


The City of Fallen Angels

by Hunters_Grace



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-18
Updated: 2018-05-10
Packaged: 2019-04-04 09:09:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 34,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14016972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hunters_Grace/pseuds/Hunters_Grace
Summary: Aerys Targaryen had never gotten along with the Starks, they challenged his control in an LA music industry that had been his for decades. His daughter, however, did not share the same view of the wolf pack.All Dany had known the first morning she'd met the Starks was that she was suffering from toddler induced sleep deprivation and she was in dire need of a coffee, she hadn't known her desire to not sleep through the work day would lead her to a wolf pack that would be more than happy to welcome the dragon into their ranks.She hadn't expected it, but that didn't mean she wasn't grateful for the wolves that cared not for family rivalries, but were fiercely loyal to those they thought deserved a second chance.





	1. Of Caffeine Deprived Dragons and The Sleeping Wolves

**Author's Note:**

> Modern AU.  
> Multi-chapter fic will explore the building relationship of two of our favourite GoT characters as they battle family issues, all forms of past trauma, and find themselves in a better place with more family than they could've hoped for when they come out of the other side together.  
> Hope you like it, let me know what you think, and I'll try and keep this updated as often as I can.

Daenerys had woken up this morning stressed beyond belief and physically exhausted. So much so that she’d detoured into a small coffee shop she hadn’t noticed before on the way to work, she just needed some caffeine to get her through what was already seeming like it was going to be a long day.

“Good morning miss, are you having coffee on the go or would you like a table?” The greeting was very cheery for 7am on a Monday morning, but Dany couldn’t find it in her to be annoyed with the woman for it. She was older than her, probably in her fifties with grey roots starting to show against the red of her natural hair colour.

“Just to go please, I need to get to work.”

“No problem dear, you go straight on through.” Kind blue eyes reflecting her smile as she pointed past her to the coffee booth at the back.

The Targaryen had walked slowly towards it, seeing there was no one there she turned back to look at the woman who huffed in annoyance and pushed through the kitchen door next to the counter. Muffled shouting came from behind the door and a girl all but fell out of the door leading to the counter shortly after, the older woman muttering to herself as she returned to work front of house.

“Morning miss, sorry about the delay I didn’t realise anyone was here.” The girl looked almost as tired as she did as she shook her head and pushed a smile onto her face. “What can I get for you?”

“A latte to go please.” The woman nodded and walked off, Dany watching her go in the hope that concentrating on something would keep her awake right now. 

The girl had short choppy brown hair, and her eyes were almost steel grey; she seemed younger than her (despite the fact that she stood a couple inches taller than Dany herself) but she was probably not younger by many years. The brunette appeared to have a slight limp as she made her way around the the area behind the counter and despite the fact that she’d tried, Dany couldn’t make out the name on the badge the girl was wearing from this distance. A frown etched across the woman’s face and she turned to the hole in the wall that led to the kitchen in the back and spoke quite loudly to the person or people in the other room.

“Jon! Jon! Jon!” Dany almost laughed as the girl huffed and ran a hand through her hair. “Ygritte, will you please tell your boyfriend to get me the milk.” 

A laugh echoed from the other room and Dany saw a red haired girl bounce up to the girl a few seconds later and push a milk bottle across the gap between them. 

“Don’t worry about him he’s just being grumpy because he has the morning shift.”

“Oh he doesn’t like the morning shift, poor baby.” The mockery in the girl’s voice was evident and both of the girl’s laughed when the man mumbled something Dany couldn’t make out but assumed wasn’t pleasant. 

The girl turned back to the coffee machine and was shortly finished with making up the latte for the other woman. As she brought it back over Dany was finally able to take note of the name on her badge: ‘Arya’ - it was an unusual name, but really who was she to judge.

“Here you go, can I get anything else for you?” At the shake of Dany’s head the other girl put her order into the machine and gave her the total sum of her order - and for a fairly upmarket part of LA the place was pretty cheap, so the blonde made sure to tip largely as she thanked the other girl and left for work slightly more upbeat than she had been before.

Arya was leaning heavily against the counter the next morning, perhaps Ygritte was right, us Starks were not made for morning shifts. She was vaguely aware of her mother greeting someone at the door but didn’t move until she heard her clear her throat - she had just about managed to pick her head up enough to look at the customer. The blonde she recognised from yesterday, a smile playing across her lips as if she’d caught Arya out on something.

“Sorry, latte again?” The Stark asked calmly.

“Oo, no I think today’s more a tea day - whatever you recommend I don’t particularly have a preference what type.”

The brunette bowed extravagantly and set about getting the woman her order. She passed the occasional glance back at the other woman as she worked.

“Wow, you’re right she is pretty.” Arya stuck an elbow out, colliding against her older brother’s rib cage at his comment. “Ouch, and you’re rude, jeez.”

The man moved over to the counter to talk to the woman who looked at him like he was insane when he pulled one of his ridiculous pick up lines.

“Ignore my brother, Robb here thinks he’s a ladies man.” The younger Stark said, nudging her brother as she placed the tea in front of the blonde whose almost violet eyes lit up when she smiled back at her.

“Well then, Robb here needs to work on his pick up lines.” She said in response, throwing a wink at the duo as she left. Arya had full on laughed as she looked at the slackened jaw of her older brother, who wasn’t pleased with the response and tripped his younger sister as she went to head back to the kitchen.

“Ass.” The girl stated simply as she hauled herself back up and continued her shift.

The days passed by like that pretty much like clockwork for two weeks or so; the blonde (Dany, Arya had learned) coming in and placing her order, laughing with whichever of the siblings or other staff members were on shift at the time, and leaving with a witty comment and a smile. 

Today had started pretty much the same as every other - the staff had arrived at 6am when their mother opened up the shop, and customers were steadily starting to arrive for a coffee to go on the way to work. Arya had perched herself on a countertop during a quiet period and was throwing a tea bag between herself and her half brother Jon.

“When are you going to ask her out?” The man’s question had caught Arya off guard and she’d nearly dropped the tea bag she was attempting to catch at the time.

“Who?”

“The lady with the dragon necklace that always comes in here, orders a drink, flirts with you, and leaves without your number.

The Stark hesitated in her response for a moment as she looked over at Jon and just waved her hands about in exasperation as no words came to her mind.

“Okay.” She finally managed as a starting point, “First, her name’s Dany. And second, she does not flirt with me,”

“She does!” Ygritte’s voice rang across the café from where she was in the kitchen.

“How is she flirting with me?!”

“I’ll show you when she arrives and, because I know you have a massive crush on her, if I’m right you have to ask her out.” Jon held a hand out to his younger sister, Ygritte watching from the background at the sibling’s exchange, and eventually the girl sighed and shook his hand.

It was only ten minutes later that Dany did arrive this morning, not that Arya had been counting, and true to his word Jon stuck around to try and show her where this girl was ‘flirting’ with her.

“Morning Dany, is it a coffee day or a tea day?”

“Definitely a coffee day darling, if I don’t get some caffeine I’ll sleep through my whole shift and have no regrets.”

Arya laughed at the woman’s obvious exhaustion and moved to start making her order.

“1. She just called you darling, 2. She watches you work all the time, 3. She’s about to ask how your day’s going.”

“So, how’s your day going? Any better than mine?” Arya passed an annoyed look at her brother who simply smirked and walked away with a ‘just saying’ falling from his lips as he passed her.

“Oh it’s wonderful; I am on shift with my favourite brother after all.” the blonde laughed at the sarcasm dripping from the other girl’s voice and at Jon who stuck his tongue out at her in response. 

“Seriously can’t wait for the weekend, not that it helps me escape my siblings but I can at least try and run away without losing my job.”

Dany shared a chuckle with the woman that was definitely not a morning person before the rest of the Stark entourage came by to say hello to the blonde before her order was ready.

Dany hadn’t figured out who it was that owned this place until she’d met all six of the Stark siblings and she found herself loving coming here for the company of them all - despite the fact that their families had a bit of a rivalry. The Targaryen’s Recording Studio in LA had pretty much been the most successful music production company in the US for decades thanks to the hard work of her father and eventually the hard work of her and her brothers too. Their competition had only recently arrived the Lannisters at Lion Studios coming to LA around the time Dany was born, and the Starks setting up Winterfell Studios when they moved from Canada to LA only ten years prior. The Lannisters, whilst cunning, weren’t a big threat - they just had wealth to outbuy talent that the Targaryen’s had already established. The Starks however, were a tough competitor - they’d built themselves up and they knew the industry well, the CEO Ned Stark having formerly worked with the dragons.  
All the siblings were musically inclined too - she was aware of the few songs that they’d released together, nothing big time yet but they were good, and Arya explained to Dany when they got talking one day that they all worked here to keep their feet on the ground. It was her mother’s project when they moved down here and they’d all gotten involved because sometimes the normality of it was something that helped them

The family members themselves Dany had begun to form bonds with, knowing all of them for a few weeks made her start to consider them as friends: Robb with all his attempt at flirtation was actually quite sweet (though she thought it’s take a special kind of person to ever be able to capture that man’s heart), Jon was an adorable accident waiting to happen (and occasionally actually happening; whether he was tripping over his own feet or missing the door), Sansa was more serious than the others and Dany almost thought she had to be to balance out just how ridiculous her siblings sometimes were, Brandon in his wheelchair held obvious pain in his eyes but he had a kindness that she thought she would’ve lost quite easily had she been in his position (she figured his not-so-secret crush, Meera, had something to do with that though), Rickon she’d only met a couple of times but he was one of those people you could tell was always going to be trouble (pulling pranks, turning off his hearing aids when Sansa was lecturing him about his work ethic, it was funny to watch), and Arya - well Dany spent one Friday morning in the café talking to her for hours and after that day she had known she was royally screwed (the woman was beautiful in her own way, and could make Dany laugh when she didn’t want to even smile - Dany had lost herself in those grey eyes more than once and she’d be damned if she could find her own way out of them).

The youngest Targaryen had managed to get so lost in her thoughts then that she hadn’t realised she was staring into those steel grey eyes right then - a smirk plastered across the other girl’s face as the blonde blinked and comically widened her eyes like a rabbit caught in headlights.

“Coffee for you, I assume you do still want the coffee and not to just stare at me?”

“Can I do both?” Dany replied in an attempt to swing the game in her favour, it worked, a slight blush hit the other girl’s cheeks and she ducked her head to hide it. What the blonde hadn’t expected however, was for Arya to catch her even further off guard as she scribbled something on a piece of paper and held it out for the Targaryen to take.

“You can do both, though maybe not here.” Arya’s eyes sparkled with mischief and Dany snatched the paper from her, checking the number written on it before turning to walk away.

“I’ll hold you to that Stark.” She had shouted over her shoulder as she left. 

Both girl’s continuing their days with ridiculous grins plastered across their faces.

Arya felt her phone buzz against her arm that evening when her siblings were trying to play twister in the middle of the living room, her and Bran electing to sit out the game and spin the wheel for them.

Unknown: Did your day get any better Stark? - Dany 

Arya: It has now - hi btw 

Dany: Hey. So I believe you made me a promise? 

Arya: I did? When was this? 

Dany: Oo I don't know, probably around the time you gave me your number. You free this weekend?

Arya: Yeah, I’ll just disappoint my siblings with the fact that Bran will have to be the sole judge for the twister tournament tomorrow.

Dany: Do I want to ask about the twister tournament?

Arya: We’re a very competitive family you know. 

Dany: I noticed. I’ll see you tomorrow then?

Arya: Sounds good.

“Yo spinner! You gonna tell me what I’m doing or just sit there grinning at your phone whilst we all die here?!” Robb’s voice was annoyed as Arya saw his arms start to shake under the weight of his own body and of Jon’s that was currently all but on top of him. Arya laughed and spun it.

“Left hand yellow.” 

“I wish I’d never asked.” Robb had muttered as he tried to tuck his arm under himself to reach the nearest yellow. It didn’t end well, he lost his balance and as he fell he took out Jon who took Ygritte and Sansa with him and Rickon just collapsed on top of them all afterwards.

“I totally won that!” The youngest sibling had exclaimed with a fist pump and all the others groaned and yelled at Robb for letting the baby wolf win.

Well they call him the baby wolf, he’s actually 19 now but he was still the youngest and would always be the baby of the siblings - Bran being 21, Arya 25, Sansa 27, and Robb and Jon both 29. Most of the siblings still lived together in the large LA family home because it was cheaper and they had no need to move out - all of them working together and all anyway. Jon had moved out a few years ago though, moved in with Ygritte (his now fiancé), and Robb had moved out about three years ago too - he left when his partner at the time fell pregnant and they moved in together, she died during childbirth but Robb stayed at their home with his now two-year-old son Ben.

The family was mismatched and had its problems but they were fiercely loyal to each other and that was something that had and would never change.


	2. Dinner with a Dragon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First dates and personal revelations, the two things that made Arya Stark more nervous than anything else. However, it was happening with the one person that could make the Stark comfortable in even the most embarrassing or awkward of occasions.  
> She could totally do this. All she had to do was ignore any and every piece of advice Robb had ever given her and according to Sansa that would pretty much do the trick.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A shorter chapter but I wanted it to be a separate moment from other things within the story.  
> Let me know what you think.

“You gonna tell us why you took so long to make Robb lose us the game to the baby wolf?” Sansa had asked when they’d all picked themselves up, and Robb had retreated to tickle his son who was laughing at him when he lost.

“I was just talking to someone…”

“Ooo! Was it that girl you’re crushing on?!” Jon exclaimed rather excited.

“Dany.” Ygritte provided for him and he waved her off.

“Ooo! That’s none of your business!” The girl replied, clasping her hands together, voice dripping with sarcasm.

“That’s a yes then.” Came her sister’s intervention.

“Did I ask for your opinion Red?” Her sister laughed at her response and Arya sighed in exasperation. This was it, this was how she’d die, of embarrassment from these idiots teasing her about her crush. Her phone buzzed again but it was quiet compared to the laughter in the room and she almost missed it. Arya turned to reach for her phone but Rickon had dived for it first and tossed it to Jon as his sister legged him up when he tried to get away. “Seriously guys! Stop!”

“Awh baby sis has a date!” The younger Stark mouthed an ‘I hate you’ at her half brother but he hadn’t noticed it as he continued to read the text that had flashed up on the screen, an eyebrow shooting up as he did so. “Damn girl, that’s a serious date too. This place is like one of the best in the city?! You’re broke, what’re you gonna do?”

“Try and be our parent’s favourite child for the next 24 hours?” Arya had volunteered after getting her phone back and seeing that Jon was right, and that meant that place was not cheap. Her siblings laughed at her but to hell with them this was a serious matter.

The next evening, Arya had dressed up as smartly as she could manage - she stuck with a pair of dark jeans and dress shirt for the occasion, she never really was one for dresses anyway. She’d managed to explain the situation to her mother the night before who, not before embarrassing her in front of her dad, had given her enough money to cover the date.

She’d arrived early, on the off chance that whilst walking something slowed her down like… pedestrian traffic or something? She didn’t know, she was just nervous. Arya had never been one for dating like Robb or Rickon or now even Jon, she had always been single really unless you count the odd high school romance gone wrong, so nervous barely even begun to cover what she was feeling right now.

A waiter had sat her at a table at the far end of the restaurant away from prying eyes and she tapped her left foot restlessly as she waited, it was only a 3 minute wait but damn that’s a long time when you’re nervous.

The Stark felt her jaw slacken in shock when she actually saw Dany that night - she greeted her in what she hoped was a coherent sentence but with how distracted she was by the stunning woman in front of her she couldn’t guarantee that she had.

“You look gorgeous.” She managed to say successfully once the waiter had left them alone.

“I wondered if there was a reason for the staring.” There was a playful twinkle in the violet hue of Dany’s eyes that let Arya know that she wasn’t making fun of her. “You don’t scrub up too bad yourself do you Stark?”

“Thanks, I mean I did shower and everything.” The laugh Arya managed to get from the other woman relaxed her greatly and she almost forgot her nerves.

They’d talked about each other’s days and pretty meaningless things until their food had arrived almost 45 minutes later, after Arya had joked that she’d soon start eating her arm if the food hadn’t arrived when it did.

Whilst they were eating the younger Stark took notice of the way the other woman seemed to nervously fidget with the necklace she was wearing, a silver three-headed dragon charm - the symbol often associated with the Targaryen clan in the same way a direwolf was with her own family.

“It’s pretty, the necklace. It’s your family symbol right?” The girl asked as they finished eating. Dany had nodded in response.

“Yeah, my father made it - our family crest had a dragon on it and he had three children so when he created the symbol he gave the dragon three heads.”

“That’s sweet; I didn’t know that.” The Targaryen offered her a shy smile at the compliment that wasn’t directly to her, but it meant a lot to her nonetheless. “Are you close, with your family?”

“Some of them. My parents I am, my mother particularly and whilst my father isn’t always the kindest to others he’d do anything for his family. My siblings less so - my eldest brother Rhaegar passed away when I was a baby, and Viserys and I haven’t ever really gotten on but he struggles with mental illness; schizophrenia, it’s not an excuse for him doing bad things but he’s never be able to have a grasp of social behaviours and he was often his own worst enemy.” To her credit, Arya had listened intently and to Dany’s surprise hadn’t seemed to judge her for the mess that had been the family she was brought up in - she supposed she should’ve been less surprised considering the hardships that were physically visible on the Stark family too.

“I get it, family can be hard sometimes. But if it’s any consolation, you seem to have come out of it very well.” Arya’s response brought a lighter mood to the conversation and the Targaryen felt more at ease. “Is it something you all wear then, like some pack symbol or something?”

Dany laughed and rolled her eyes at the question.

“I believe the pack animals are your lot, wolf. But no we don’t, just me and my mother wear them. For her little family and for mine. We don’t have a pack as big as yours.”

“No well I imagine what, the ten of us in total are probably more than most families.”

Dany looked at her confused, trying to piece together where the ten had come from.

“My parents, Uncle Benjen, Robb, Jon, Sansa, me, Bran, Rickon, Jon’s fiancé Ygritte, and Robb’s son Ben.” The Stark had explained, counting out all ten of them on her fingers.

“You guys all seem really close too, for a family so big.”

“We are.” The other girl replied simply. “We’ve been through a lot together; trying to find Rickon treatment for his hearing, Bran’s accident, Robb trying to raise his son, I could go on. We couldn’t have gotten through it alone, it keeps us together. Is it just the four of you now?”

Dany paused for a moment as she contemplated her response, thumbing the three-headed dragon charm and the ring that hung from the chain too. She had to be honest, you can’t begin to build a relationship on a base of lies, the other girl should know what she was getting herself in to.  
“No, not exactly just the four of us. I, er, I actually have to children - from a previous marriage.”

“Oh, I’m assuming dad isn’t involved anymore?”

“No, he passed away three years ago.”

“I’m sorry.” Dany shrugged it off, she’d gotten over the death of her husband a while ago, she had to stay strong for her son and daughter’s sake. She’d been pregnant with her youngest when he passed and her son was only four. “Robb’s partner died in childbirth, he had to raise Ben alone, I know it’s not easy. But those kids have a pretty awesome mom, so I reckon they’ll do just fine.”

“They do okay - I think it’s harder for my eldest, he still remembers his father, but he’s as tough as we both were so he soldiers on.”

“If it’s not too much to ask, how did it happen?” The blonde had expected the question but it didn’t make it easier to answer.

“Car crash. He was driving my son home from my parent’s house - he died on impact, my son lost his right leg in the crash.”  
Dany could almost see Arya’s heart break for her in her eyes but appreciated that she didn’t say anything; apologies aren’t much use anyway, the reassuring hand that reached for hers did help though. The dragon sharing a small smile with the other girl.

“What’re they like? Your kids?” Dany appreciated the change of topic and was happy to tell the young Stark all about her little family.

“My son is 7 now, his name’s Rhaegar after my brother. The amount he messes around and pulls pranks you wouldn’t know he was any different to other kids his age, he’s just slightly more prone to falling over because of his leg. My daughter is only 3, Visenya - so far hasn’t gone through a huge faze of throwing tantrums like Rhae did but she can have her moments, mainly at night, hence the need to come to you for coffee a lot.” Arya laughed at her last comment, quietly listening to her talk about her family - happy to see a smile return to her face.

“I had wondered what made you need the amount of caffeine we supply you with.” The Targaryen swatted at Arya’s arm at the comment. The other girl talking to her about her adventures with her nephew, or sabotaging him for his dad as she put it - teaching him pranks that he would later use against his father much to the delight of his aunts and uncles.

The two might not have had perfect family lives growing up but at least they had found happy home lives now, and perhaps they’d be able to grow upon that. 

They settled the tab not long after, the Stark insisting on getting the bill, and Arya walked the other woman back home afterwards. They were content to fall in and out of conversation on the way home, talking and laughing about anything and everything that came to mind. When they reached the apartment building the Targaryen resided in, both women were sorry to see the night come to an end.

“You know you never did tell me that much about you.” Dany stated as they came to a halt outside her building.

“Maybe I like to be a mystery… or maybe I was hoping you’d want to find out more and maybe volunteer for a second date?” The Stark’s words were uncharacteristically shy, but she had no need to be, Dany’s mouth curved up into a large grin as she nodded her agreement.

“I’d like that.”

“Good.” Arya saw violet eyes flick to her lips and back up again and she nervously pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, releasing it again when Dany took a step closer. 

The blonde pushing onto her tiptoes to press their lips together briefly, before pulling away all too soon if you asked the Stark. Dany threw her a wink as she turned to head into her building.

“Goodnight Arya.”

“Goodnight Dany.”

The brunette returned home with a spring in her step and a smile on her face that evening, and she found herself not even caring in the slightest when her siblings teased her about it as soon as she got through the door.


	3. Motherly Battles and Battles of a Different Kind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dany was relieved to be able to see her wolf again after the morning she'd had, and was made happier by the opportunity of a lunch date with the girl - it was about time she started to unravel the enigma that was Arya Stark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little more family fluff and Dany gets to know Arya's backstory.  
> Hope you enjoy it, let me know what you think.

Dany had found herself in a surprisingly good mood a couple of days later, despite the fact that her Monday morning had started with her having a toddler jump on her stomach at 5am in place of being woken up by an alarm. 

She’d pulled herself from the bed afterwards, scooping her young daughter up and carrying her through to the kitchen to put her in her high chair by the dining table whilst she started to make up some breakfast for them all. Rhaegar had appeared a few minutes later; rubbing his eyes with one hand, the other tightly clutching the cuddly dragon he’d had since he was born.

The blonde turned to wrap an arm around the boy when he became unbalanced on his prosthetic, Dany just managing to prevent him from falling. He’d had it for about 3 years now, but he was still young and he struggled to put the leg on properly by himself. His mother moved quickly to correct the way the liner and sock sat on his leg, and pulling up the sleeve that attached to the socket to make sure it wouldn’t come loose whilst he was at school.

When they’d all finished eating it was almost 6am and Dany needed to get them both ready for the day before she had to go to work. 

Visenya had decided this morning that she hadn’t wanted to get dressed, and that she’d rather play in her pajamas for the day. It had taken up the majority of an hour to try and convince her youngest that she needed to get changed before the babysitter arrived - she’d had to leave her after 50 minutes because her son had shouted her from down the hallway. She’d told the girl to be dressed by the time she got back (she doubted she would be but it was worth a try). 

When she’d gotten to her son’s room he’d managed to get the leg of his jeans tangled around the prosthetic joint of his right ankle. The woman had chuckled softly as he sat pouting on the floor whilst she unravelled the leg and held it up for him to properly step into.

Dany had left the house at 7am with Rhaegar to get him to school after the baby sitter arrived - and no, Visenya still hadn’t changed out of her pajamas, in fact she’d added her unicorn slippers to the ensemble. She’d apologised to Missandei when she’d arrived, the other woman had just laughed and gone to join the 3-year-old where she sat on the floor watching TV. The blonde was immensely grateful that her friend had volunteered to babysit whenever it was needed, she was paid of course but it didn’t mean she didn’t appreciate the help.

Rhaegar had been safely dropped off at school half an hour later, the two enjoying the walk over in the sunshine - the warmth of the summer months being better appreciated than the walk in the cold winters they’d had to do before, Dany only regretted not driving in those months (she was not one for the cold).

She had made her way to the small Stark owned café, as was becoming her habit by now, after she’d dropped her son off.

When she’d walked through the door Catelyn had greeted her with a smile and the dragon had rolled her eyes when she’d spotted Robb behind the counter, grinning like a Cheshire cat.

“Morning dragon. Have a good weekend?”

“I think you already know that I did wolf.” Dany replied with a smile, rolling her eyes at the ridiculous expression plastered across the eldest Stark’s face.

“Arya! Your girlfriend’s here, she probably wants to talk to you instead of me!”

The young Targaryen had jumped at the sudden loudness of the man’s voice and shot him a glare when he noticed and laughed at her. Robb stuck his tongue out in return and from the corner of her   
eye Dany noticed Arya appear and lean against the doorframe, shaking her head.

“What are you doing you weirdo?” Robb turned quickly at the sound of his sister’s voice and shrugged.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about I’m nothing but cool… and she started it.” He replied calmly as he walked past her and into the kitchen.

“Liar!” The dragon had called after him as he walked away.

Arya had laughed at her response as she approached the counter.

“Morning, how are you?”

The blonde made to tangle their fingers together as the young Stark leant against the countertop.

“Better for seeing you, though I am in rather dire need of a coffee - some of us have been awake since 5am.” Dany laughed as Arya openly cringed at the horror of waking up before the sun had properly risen, but she threw her a wink and moved to make up her drink. “When do you get off shift today?”

The brunette smiled as she cast her gaze to her momentarily.

“Should be done around midday I think. That sound right mom?” The dragon turned in time to see the older woman shoot her daughter a thumbs up. “Why you think you can get out of work?”

“Oh please, my boss is my dad I’m sure I can get away.”

Arya laughed as she returned with her drink, placing it in front of her and taking the change out of the other woman’s hand.

“Well, if you can get away I can meet you near the National Vets Park, if you know where that is?” Dany nodded, it was a curious park to want to visit but it was close enough to her work that she could easily get there.

“Sure, I’ll bring lunch with me. I best actually go to work before I focus on my escape though.” The blonde replied with a wink. “I’ll see you later Arya.”

“Bye, have a good day!”

She had gotten to work on time not long after, telling her dad when she saw him that she was going to take her work home at lunch (not wanting to specify where she was actually going and why). 

Dany sat, tapping out a rhythm with her pen as she worked - headphones on, trying to get the editing of one of the clients new singles done before she left. She found this one easy to get finished, there had only been a few more tweaks that needed to be made and she sent it back to the artist for him to listen to before they signed it off and released the song. When she was done and waiting for a response she had gotten intrigued about the Starks own music - she took a moment to remember the siblings band name before she typed it into YouTube and found a few tracks to listen to.

The group (Wolf Pack 6) had only started releasing songs about a year ago and they weren’t ‘big time’ yet but the Targaryen was still very aware of the fact that they were good at what they did.   
Distracted by watching what videos she could find of their songs, she almost didn’t notice the alarm she’d set on her watch beep because of how loud she’d turned the volume up - luckily the song was ending at the time and Dany packed up her things as quickly as she could manage and only made the short stop to pick up some lunch for them both as she made her way to Veterans Park.

Arya had already been there when she arrived, sat at the edge of the park nearest to the Targaryen Studios on the wall with the park name written across it.

“Hey you.”

“Hey.” Arya grinned as she responded, jumping from the wall and wrapping Dany in a hug.

“You okay?” The brunette nodded.

“I’m fine, just spent the morning winding my brother up so it’s all good. Was work alright? I mean I see you managed to escape at least so…”

“It was, finished up some editing. Then I got bored so I decided to check out your band’s stuff, seeing as I’ve heard all about it from at least 3 out of 6 of you.”

The Stark quirked an eyebrow at the blonde as a way of asking what she thought.

“You’re good, I’ll give you that. Were you guys always performing together? I could only trace back about a year.”

Arya shook her head and only began explaining when she’d took Dany’s hand and started leading her through the park.

“No we weren’t, well not professionally anyway. We all did other things for a while though but when we went through a bit of a rough patch together a couple of years ago the music helped us stick together.” 

The blonde had found the story quite sweet and was happy to be learning more about the Stark now too, so she kept asking questions to see what else she’d be allowed to learn. They’d gone through ridiculously random topics by the time they’d found a bench and sat to eat; from favourite colours, to pets, to the fact that Arya used to be a bit of a soccer prodigy, literally anything and everything that had come into Dany’s mind to ask. As they sat there she found one more question; and the answer surprised the Targaryen immensely.

“Why Veteran’s Park? It’s kind of an odd place to like to venture.” Arya’s smile didn’t quite reach her eyes as she looked back at the other girl, setting her drink down and starting to explain.

“You remember I told you we all did other things, me and my siblings, before we took up music properly?” Dany nodded. “Well; Robb had started working with my dad straight away really, Jon went to college back up in Canada for a few years, Sansa was a music teacher, Bran and Rickon were still in school and then came to work in and around LA to see what they wanted to do… I wasn’t quite so normal I suppose, I was actually in the army for about 5 years coming out of high school.”

The dragon felt her jaw slacken at that revelation, the question of how much war she’d seen was clearly obvious on her face as Arya added.

“3 tours - two in Afghanistan, one in Syria. Yes, that is a lot for 5 years.”

“Is that why you left? I’d imagine you’ve seen enough violence.” To her surprise, Arya shook her head and shrugged slightly.

“I-er, I was honorably discharged 2 years ago.” Dany didn’t press when the Stark paused, knowing she’d tell her when she was ready. “I was Delta Force, which now I’m out of the army I can actually say, and we had a standard prisoner escort mission that went south real fast. I was MIA for 12 months before they told my family to assume that I’d been killed in action, I got back to my outpost in Syria 3 months later - and when I got home I don’t know if it was harder for me or them to adjust… I got home to find out that I had a gravestone in the National Cemetery a few blocks away, so it   
wasn’t exactly a normal family reunion.”

The blonde wanted to say sorry for everything the girl had been through, but she’d dealt with trauma too and she knew it wouldn’t help.

“They discharged you because of that ordeal then? PTSD and everything else that I can’t even begin to imagine…” The Stark shook her head slowly again, Dany’s eyebrows furrowing together as the girl almost smirked at her.

“No I- I was running away from a situation to get back to base and after 15 months you get desperate and I forgot to look at the ground I was running on… Boom, stepped on a landmine. You can tell your kid he ain’t the only cyborg around now.” She said with a wink as she pulled up the bottom of the right leg of her jeans, revealing the black prosthetic very similar to the one her son used to walk.

“So that’s why you weren’t fazed when I told you about Rhae?”

“Well no, I wouldn’t of cared about that even if I did have two legs - but it does help me understand, and it means I can tell you that he’ll be just fine. Hasn’t stopped me yet.” The blonde wiped crumbs off her hands and reached to hold the other girl’s left hand, sharing a smile with her as she did so.

They’d continued talking about Arya’s time serving in the military for a while, and in its special forces units. Kind of surprisingly the Stark still held a lot of fond memories of her time in the armed forces, despite the way her career ended. Turns out when Arya came home her heroics in battle had earned her a lot of recognition, but it came from the capital and so when she returned home to LA the girl had managed to step out of the military spotlight… but the young Stark had some serious medals to her name including all three of the highest US military awards: the Silver Star, the Distinguished Service Cross, and the Medal of Honour (all things that the girl had said she’d received as if she’d asked for the salt shaker - she made no big deal about it but it was a huge deal and the Targaryen was shocked beyond belief).

“So, I’m dating a real life superhero huh?” The dragon had asked as they made their way out of the park to return home, the wolf chuckling at her response.

“Well I mean, I do try ma’am.”

The cheeky wink that followed the comment sent them both into fits of laughter and Dany was glad that Arya had trusted her enough to open up to her too and, she wasn’t going to lie, she was immensely proud to even know someone as insanely brave as Arya Stark.


	4. Meeting the Wolf Pack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dany tells her mom about Arya and the Starks invite a dragon to their doorstep.  
> Family cuteness and the discovery of long forgotten feelings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 4 - Dany officially meets the Stark clan and decides to tell her own family too. Cuteness and family bonding.  
> Hope you enjoy it.  
> Let me know what you think.

It had been almost 4 weeks now since Arya had managed to secure a first date with her dragon. The two had been out what felt like a thousand more times since; always finding the time somewhere to either have a proper date, meet up for coffee, or even just to call for an hour or so. 

The Stark knew that technically Dany had already met most of her family, but as they reached a point where they were both invested in the relationship she wanted to make proper introductions i.e. when they weren’t teasing her at work. She’d asked the blonde about it a few nights ago and she’d agreed, knowing already that she liked the wolf pack, but as the day rolled around the Targaryen got progressively more nervous and shot a quick text to Arya that morning (somewhere between the madness of keeping half an eye on both of her young children).

Dany: I’ve never met your dad before.

Arya smiled when she saw the text come through; she had worried too that her dad might react poorly, but when she’d explained the situation to him he had sat back in the chair and responded simply.

“I wondered why you were so happy… and your mother already ‘warned’ me, you forget you paid for your first date with my money.” The young Stark had rolled her eyes and laughed, more relieved than anything else that he was fine with it - though she was sure she’d still have to deal with him being protective and threatening Dany when she actually introduced them.

Arya: Don’t worry he’ll love you. Xx

Arya: Though I will warn you that he’s protective and he may threaten death if you hurt me or something ;)

Dany: Brilliant. I can’t wait. Though he has nothing to worry about, I have only pure intentions. Xx

Arya: The word you’re looking for is good, pure is definitely not true - according to Robb you’ve ‘corrupted his baby sister’

Dany: Arya, please tell me you didn’t tell him. He teases me enough as it is.

Arya: Oops -_0_-

Dany: I hate you. Xx

The Stark laughed as she sat at her desk, where she’d been editing the latest sound recording the siblings had done the day before. She heard her mom call them all down for dinner not long afterwards and pushed the wheeled chair across the room so she could put the prosthetic on - in theory she could’ve just hopped down the stairs or jumped on the stair lift Bran used, but the leg (with a microprocessor knee that allowed for more real leg movement) had cost over $40,000 so she made the most of it. There were a hell of a lot of other people in her position that couldn’t afford the same luxury and had to struggle with an average mechanical leg.

Dany, meanwhile, had spent the afternoon with her mom and children at the park. She’d wanted to explain the situation to her, the two had always gotten along well and Dany didn’t like keeping secrets. The older woman had been slightly shocked, but she had smiled all the same.

“As long as she makes you happy, I’m happy for you.” Her daughter had smiled nervously at her and she saw the worry in her eyes that wasn’t related to her reaction but to the fact that her father still didn’t know. “I won’t tell him, if you don’t want him to know.”

“Thank you, I know he’d probably get over it but- I don’t want to get him annoyed yet, we haven’t been dating that long, she has to pass the trial by fire with those two yet…” Rhaella had laughed at her daughter’s comment, a trial by fire indeed. The youngest dragons had met 2 of their mother’s partners after Drogo, the fact that neither of them were still around was a good indication of how those meetings went. Visenya had tended to give them more a chance, one of them she had gotten along with quite well, but Rhaegar, never liked any one of them and no one really understood why.

“You never know, maybe this one will pass the trial by fire. But until then, you can go and enjoy your evening and tell her she’ll always be welcome with us too as long as she’s keeping you happy.”

“Thanks mom.”

Dany had spent the rest of the afternoon split between answering her mom’s questions about Arya and running around the park after her 3-year-old daughter or helping her son get up the steps to the slide, his prosthetic making such steep steps difficult for him to climb on his own.

It had been a better afternoon than she’d expected and come around 3pm she was walking back with the two youngest Targaryen’s (who had both managed to convince grandma Rhaella to get them an ice cream).She wasn’t due at the Stark residence until 6 so she had enough time to do everything, she hoped.

Luckily, when they’d gotten back Missandei had been stood by the door waiting for them. Visenya had ran over to give her ‘aunt’ a hug, Rhaegar following close behind.

“What’re you doing here? I’m not going out until 6.” The blonde had stated with a chuckle as she hugged her friend. 

“Well I figured you might need some earlier help, trying to get ready and look after two children is not an easy task, plus Grey has already gone out so I had nowhere else to be.”

Dany laughed, moving to unlock the door and guide the other three into the large apartment. Missandei had been right, without her help Dany likely wouldn’t have been able to get ready in time - Vis had decided she wanted to play as soon as her mother had attempted to get in the shower and it had took her Missandei and her brother to convince her to play with them for a while until she was done. It had then taken a good 15 minute conversation for a decision to be made about what the two were going to have for dinner, and just before she was about to head out the door her youngest had accidentally fell onto her brother’s leg and the top of the prosthetic had dug into the muscle there - it hadn’t cut but it’s a hard material so Dany had to take a few minutes to calm the boy down, she stayed with him a while longer than was necessary, but she felt guilty leaving him hurt so she had to make sure he was okay and double check they were all set for the evening before she left.

She took a taxi to get there; it was less painful than trying to walk across half of LA or getting herself lost whilst doing so. When she arrived she was only a few minutes later than she’d wanted to be (fashionably late, as she told Arya when she’d opened the door with a sarcastic glance at her watch).

“You get lost or?”

“No I didn’t, I had to make sure my two little monsters were all set before I left.” The Stark laughed, holding the door open for her to come through.

“Monsters… and here I was assuming they’d be dragons.” Dany swung a loose arm at the other girl’s mid-section as she walked past her and towards what she assumed was the front room. The house was huge; which shouldn’t have surprised Dany but it did.

All five of the other siblings were in the room when she got there; along with Ygritte and a young boy she assumed was Robb’s son.

“Hey Dany!” They had all said, nearly in unison. “Hi!” The young boy chimed in, late but chipper with a goofy smile on his face.

“Hey guys, you all alright?”

The siblings all nodded their answer and Jon and Sansa properly came over to greet her and they eventually managed to take a seat and join in the conversation… And despite the fact that they were often busy teasing either her or Arya, Dany still found watching the siblings interact with each other amusing - whether they were arguing, cutting in on each others stories, sharing the worst puns or jokes on Earth, or apparently placing bets on the winner of their next twister tournament (and honestly the dragon had thought Arya was joking when she’d said they did that, apparently that was not the case).

It was about 5 or 10 minutes later when the familiar face of Catelyn Stark had appeared from the kitchen, with the unfamiliar face of her husband trailing behind her. He looked a nice enough man, if not a bit rugged - Arya clearly took more after her father than her mother, the same brown hair and steel grey eyes that matched none of her mother’s or sister’s features.

“Evening dear, how are you?” The woman had asked as Dany stood to accept the hug Catelyn had offered as greeting.

“I’m good thank you, are you?”

“Oh not so bad, just have to make sure I’m half keeping an eye on this lot. Don’t know what trouble they’d get themselves into.” The woman winked at her and her children all protested the accusation that they were trouble, despite it probably being accurate.

“To be fair to the others, it’s mainly Robb.” Ned had interjected as he came to stand at his wife’s side.

“Hey!” The man shrugged at his son’s protest and Ben had fell over laughing at Robb’s reaction, which inevitably set the Stark siblings off too. Arya’s dad had rolled his eyes and turned back to Dany, holding a hand out for her to shake.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you kid, my daughter doesn’t stop talking about you.” The blonde looked to the floor for a moment to quell her blush before responding.

“In a good way I’d hope.”

She passed a glance over her shoulder to find Arya already stood up behind her, the taller woman pressing a kiss against Dany’s temple.

“Oh, only ever in a good way - and as long as it stays like that, we’ve got no problems kid.” The blonde appreciated that there wasn’t so much a death threat in that as she’d been concerned there might’ve been. He seemed a good man; he was just protective of his daughter which, considering he’d thought her dead a few years ago, was perfectly justified… in fact it was quite sweet to see.   
Catelyn had left shortly after to make sure everything was ready for dinner and the almost banquet sized dining table was quickly filled by the group.

“Aunty Arya! Up!” Ben had exclaimed simply as he looked at the brunette with outstretched arms, who picked him up and sat him safely in the high chair between her and Robb.

“Check you being all adorably domesticated.” The dragon had whispered into the space between them - though wolf by name, and by nature apparently, Ned chipped in from Dany’s other side.

“She wasn’t always - luckily being a soldier means you have to get your act together.” Arya rolled her eyes, throwing her arms up in exasperation at his comment. At Dany’s quizzical look, Jon laughed and made to explain.

“Baby sis was a bit of a rebellious teenager after we moved from Canada, so both adorable and domesticated were things she avoided being like the plague.” The blonde had to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing at the idea of a pouty teenage Arya that had tried to be anything but the sweet woman she was lucky enough to be dating right now.

Her dad had pulled out the photos on his phone as proof (which his daughter had tried to snatch from him but the dragon maneuvered herself between the two so she could see the photos first. Imagine the teenagers from the Sk8r Boi video and it was something akin to that - apparently before they’d moved Arya had snowboarded so the summer weather compromise had been trying to skateboard. The younger she-wolf had slumped low, groaning as she dropped her head onto Dany’s shoulder as her dad showed her girlfriend the slow progression from ‘thinks-she’s-cool’ to ‘super-soldier’.

Not all of the photos were bad, her siblings had several hundred worse ones between them that they pooled together to bully her with every birthday, but it was still embarrassing. There’d been the photo of her skater phase, one from when they went back to Canada for a week and she’d immediately returned to the snowboarding slopes, one of her in her senior year playing soccer, her graduation photo (particularly embarrassing), the one from when she’d first got into her army uniform, and one from when she’d come home from her 3rd tour (everyone’s eyes were red from crying in that one, and the short khakis Arya was wearing showed off the bottom half of the black prosthetic she now wore).

Dany still thought she looked adorable in all the photos, even though the other girl clearly disagreed, and damn she’d looked good in her army uniform. As she looked at the last photo, Dany noticed something on the uniform’s shoulder that Arya hadn’t told her.

“The badge says Lieutenant Colonel, I thought you were just one of their ground soldiers?” Arya smirked slightly.

“I was, I was just a high ranking ground soldier.” The blonde shook her head almost in disbelief, this woman had led one of the US Special Forces Squadrons on 3 tours, been MIA for 15 months, lost her right leg, and still came home and could smile as easily as she did in the photos of her from her younger years.

The Stark would never fail to amaze Dany, of that she was now becoming sure.

After dinner, Ned had volunteered to give Dany a proper tour of the large house and he’d passed Arya a glance that made her stay. The Stark knew her father just wanted to be able to make his own decision on the girl, but the blonde had looked unnerved and even the smile and thumbs up Arya had shot her hadn’t helped ease those nerves. That didn’t happen until she’d actually started the tour and fell into comfortable conversation with the older man. They’d started on the other side of the ground floor to where they’d started - one of the rooms had been made into a decent sized music studio that had probably been the background of their YouTube videos, another looked like a study, and one a games room, to the back of the house Dany could see a swimming pool in the garden that she couldn’t imagine all the siblings were able to enjoy. Ned must’ve seen the question on her mind as he turned to speak.

“It’s been adapted so they can all use it, as is the case with most of the house. We might not be your normal family, but it works for us.” Dany had smiled at the man as she replied.

“I understand that, but you all deal with the challenges of it very well.”

The Targaryen almost saw the worry and tension drain from Ned as she spoke, putting him at ease that the abnormality of his family’s situation wouldn’t affect how the girl felt about his daughter.

“We do our best, luckily we can afford everything we need to help everyone.” The man spun around, looking for something, before he pointed to a small box on the study wall that was situated above the desk. “That’s a light box, there’s one in every room that lights up when the doorbell rings so Rickon is aware of it if he’s home alone or not wearing the hearing aids.” 

“I didn’t know that was a thing.”

“You learn things when you have to I suppose.” As they walked back to the main corridor the older Stark began pointing other things out to her. “The spare wheelchair and set of crutches at both the top and bottom of the stairs are for Bran, or sometimes Arya is her prosthetic is getting uncomfortable - same goes for the chair lift up the side of the stairs. It’s necessary for two of my children, the others sometimes use it though but that is because they’re either being lazy or trying to annoy the other two.”

It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the people stealing the chair lift were likely Robb and Rickon - they seemed to find winding their siblings up particularly amusing.

The upstairs of the house was pretty much all bedrooms and a couple of bathrooms, plus a spare lounge area for if Ned and Catelyn needed to escape the noise from their children apparently. Which was unsurprising given the numbers that could be in this house at one time.

“How much did everything change for you? When the accidents happened with Bran and then Arya?”

“A lot; emotionally it was taxing more than the physical things, all I had to do was make sure the builders adjusted the house to their needs - they did all the hard work physically. Bran’s accident happened not long after we moved here, he was 11, fell from a tree he’d climbed up in the Westridge Wilderness Park - he was in a coma for a while and when he woke up he was told he’d never walk again. But he’s a strong kid, he adjusted and we bought him a racing wheelchair so he could still keep up with the others if we went biking or anything. It was more difficult for him than us, Arya’s was difficult for everyone involved… I assume she told you what happened?”

Dany nodded, remembering the story well.

“When she came home we were shocked enough that she was alive I- you’ll never understand pain until you have buried an empty coffin with the honest belief that you hadn’t had the chance to say goodbye. It took us far too long to recover from our own emotional wreckage that we didn’t notice what she was going through that wasn’t physical… You could never tell now, hell you can barely tell she’s missing a leg sometimes - but she used to suffer badly with PTSD, paranoia, depression, which was all to be expected given what she’d been through out there but I think that was the hardest part of her injury. Arya’s the strongest person I know; and it’s not because she went through physical hell and came back alive, it’s because she battled so much in her head that would’ve and has stopped so many others from coming out of the other side of it. It’s why I’m so protective of her - she’s been through enough pain for a thousand lifetimes. She deserves some happiness, and you give her that, so thank you.”

Dany didn’t know whether she had started crying first or if Ned had, but the man chuckled when he noticed they’d both responded the same way and wrapped the girl in a hug.

The Targaryen had only one other thought in that moment - how could her father hold such a disliking for the Starks. Yes they were business rivals, but this family was so sweet and caring and loyal to a fault, and they’d been through so much that Dany was kind of glad they’d taken some of the Targaryen’s success for themselves. If anyone deserved a happy ending it was this family, and Dany was so grateful to know all of them.

It wasn’t until she caught the eye of Arya, who was leaning against the doorway of the room the two were in that the blonde realised just how deep she was in this. She’d had a hard time with love ever since her husband’s passing; but she doubted she’d ever seen love like that which was reflected back at her in steel grey eyes.

She’d pulled away from Ned eventually to go and wrap herself around his youngest daughter instead, pushing onto her tiptoes to press a kiss to the other woman’s lips. Dany had nuzzled into the crook of her girlfriend’s neck and whispered, so softly she wasn’t sure if the Stark had heard her right away.

“I love you.”

Arya’s arms pulled the blonde tighter against her, and she dropped her forehead onto the top of Dany’s before whispering back.

“I love you too, Dany.”


	5. Netflix and Interruptions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How not to introduce yourself to your daughter's girlfriend 101?  
> Surprise visits and more family introductions when Mama Dragon drops by to see who exactly the girl was, that had stolen her daughter's heart so easily.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rhaella Targaryen weighs in on Danarya, and Dany comes to terms with her feelings and that love was normally worth taking risks for... even if the risk she was considering was her own personal 'Trial by Fire'.  
> Family fluff and domestic Danarya ensues.  
> I hope you enjoy it.  
> Like, Comment, and let me know what you think.

A few days later, Arya had met Dany’s mother.

They’d been in the dragon’s apartment whilst her children were staying with their grandparents and apparently Grandma Rhaella had been all too aware of why her daughter had asked for the day to herself. She had also decided it was about time that she met the girl that had gotten Dany so smitten; so she’d spent the morning with her grandchildren and after lunch had drove to the young Targaryen’s apartment block. She daren’t make the mistake of not knocking when she arrived though, and luckily she had gladly not interrupted anything as was proven when the woman opened the door still dressed and not disheveled - although she had been shocked. 

Dany pulled the door closed behind her as she stepped out.

“What’re you doing here mom?!” She had all but hissed.

“Well, I figured you wouldn’t let me meet the girl unless I took some initiative and came to you both.”

The younger woman shook her head, sighing exasperatedly. Dany knew there was no use trying to argue with her mother, but she still couldn’t believe that she’d purposefully interrupted her date.

Resigning herself to the fact that her mother would walk right in even if she told her to leave, Dany opened the door and let the older woman follow her back inside.

“I’m so sorry about this.” She’d said as she walked back into the lounge where Arya had been sat rather comfortably on the couch. “She demands to meet you.”

The Stark let out a surprised ‘oh’ as a woman that was very clearly Dany’s mother came round the corner too. She pulled her legs from where they rested on the coffee table to stand and greet the stranger.

“Hi.” Was pretty much all Arya had managed to say in her mild state of shock.

“Hey kid, it’s Arya right?” The ex-soldier nodded once as she shook the woman’s hand, and the mannerisms of the girl almost screamed out her military background (though Rhaella imagined she only noticed it because it was something she already knew about). Though the older dragon was shocked when the Stark had walked towards her with no limp in sight, despite the fact that she was missing a limb - very much the same as Rhaegar, though he didn’t walk nearly as confidently as the woman in front of her did.

“Yeah, it’s a pleasure to meet you - even if you did catch me a little off guard.”

Rhaella laughed off the comment, making to sit on the other sofa so she could more easily converse with both girls. It didn’t take the woman long to see why her daughter had fallen for the wolf; piercing grey eyes looked at her daughter with nothing but love and adoration, her fingers constantly linked to Dany’s, and hearing the girl talk about her own life it was clear that she was definitely one-of-a-kind.

“I take it by the fact that we have the little ones today that you haven’t had you’re ‘trial by fire’ yet?” The woman directed the question at Arya, but it was the blonde that had shook her head and replied with a resounding ‘no’. The wolf had laughed and just shrugged at Rhaella.

“I’m sure I’ll go through it at some point, but no not yet. Is it really as bad as a ‘trial by fire’?!” Steel grey eyes betrayed her concern over the comment and Dany had attempted to brush it off before correcting herself.

“No I- well, I mean yes… but I’m sure you’ll do fine when we do have that introduction.”

“Wow, thanks babe. I’m really convinced of that.” The older woman in the room laughed at their exchange. She knew what the youngest Targaryen’s were like when they met any of their mother’s partners, but she held a quiet confidence for how she thought this one would fair.

Vis liked most people anyways; the girl was an overly friendly child so there were no worries there. But for once Rhaella was almost confident that there wouldn’t be an immediate rejection from Rhae either - the boy had been through a lot and sometimes he needed to feel normal, even when the world screamed at him that he wasn’t, if anyone could offer him that feeling it was likely going to be someone like the young wolf that sat before her.

The mother of dragons had only stayed for a couple of hours, figuring that her husband would start questioning her absence if she stayed much longer, and she didn’t want to cause an argument if he found out about Arya before he was ready to hear it. When she hugged the Stark goodbye she couldn’t help but say something to her.

“You make her happy, just keep that up and you’ll do amazing kid.” 

Rhaella left satisfied that afternoon; knowing the other girl better had helped her understand that she was right for her daughter, and Dany was right to be happy with the Stark. Dany had also been right about Arya being a superhero, of a different kind, and that was one of the reasons she remained confident about her - she had a feeling that if the girl wanted a place in the family, she’d be welcomed into it.

Dany had sighed in relief as she flopped back onto the couch when her mother had gone back home. Arya laughed at her and struggled to fold her knee so she could properly kneel in front of her girlfriend.

“Are you okay?” The other girl just groaned out her annoyance.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t know she was going to do that. I thought we might get away without it for a little while longer.”

“Personally I’m quite glad she showed up.” Dany cocked an eyebrow at the other girl, who laughed at the response. “I mean, if I had to get embarrassed by my family in front of you, I s’pose it’s only fair you get the same.”

“Oh shut up.” The blonde jokingly pushed a foot against Arya’s shoulder, remembering too late that the other girl hadn’t got the same balance as she did when she heard a slight tud and an ‘ow’ from her floor. “Oh my god, baby I’m so sorry, are you okay?”

Despite her best efforts, laughter still escaped her as she knelt next to the wolf and helped her sit back up.

“It’s not funny.” She had whined, which had only made Dany laugh more. “Ugh, you’re lucky I love you.”

“I know.” The dragon responded, moving to kiss the girl as if to prove her point.

When Daenerys moved to deepen the kiss she pulled a moan from the Stark’s throat, but the other woman pulled away far too quickly for the dragon’s liking - biting her lip as she rested her forehead against Dany’s.

“Don’t.” Arya had whispered gently. “I won’t be able to get up from here without immensely ruining the moment.”

The blonde rolled her eyes and made to stand, holding a hand out for the brunette to take as she attempted to stand again. They eventually both settled back on the couch, a movie of some kind playing in the background as Dany curled up against her girlfriend.

It was a few moments before the dragon said anything again.

“Would you mind?” Arya glanced down at her shoulder to meet violet eyes. “If I subjected you to the ‘trial by fire’ as my mother so eloquently put it.”

A smirk played across the Stark’s lips as she shook her head.

“Of course I wouldn’t mind. I love you, and they’re an important part of you so of course I wouldn’t mind meeting them… so long as you’re ready for me to.”

Dany pressed a kiss to the underside of Arya’s jaw (it was the easiest area for the blonde to reach from this angle) and happily nuzzled back into her side.

The dragon new she was ready for Arya to meet the youngest Targaryen’s - it was just a question of whether they were ready to meet her. She wouldn’t do it just yet anyway, she wanted time for her children to get used to the idea that she was with someone again, hoping that would help the response to meeting Arya a more successful one.

She knew Vis would love her, and that Rhaegar would - but Rhae had a horrible habit of not giving people that love as easily, he had always been heavily against the people Dany had dated and she could only hope that this time would be different.

But all that was a problem for another day, for now she was content to be in Arya’s arms for the rest of the day (and was more than happy to have been able to pull the Stark back into her bed that night - they didn’t often get to spend the night with each other, so they’d be damned if they let such an opportunity go to waste).

Dany couldn’t say how much she’d actually slept when she woke up the next morning; but finding Arya in her kitchen, making her breakfast, had made her forget about the sleep deprivation she was sure she’d start feeling around the time she went to pick up her kids. 

When she’d kissed Arya goodbye that morning, and the girl had shouted an ‘I love you’ over her shoulder as she left the apartment, Dany knew she was right.

She had to introduce Arya to her little dragons at some point. She couldn’t hide the fact that she’d fallen in love from them; she was happy and she knew she’d only manage to stop being so nervous about how deep she’d fallen when she had her children’s reassurance that she wasn’t going crazy… that this one, this was the one that would keep her happy. 

The trial of fire was necessary at this point; it was often the make or break of her relationships, and she wanted to know that the right decision was for her to stay this time around.


	6. Confessions and Musicians

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dany finally gets up the courage to talk to her little dragons about Arya, and the wolf prepares for her trial by fire whilst trying to juggle her family duties as they prepare for a new song release.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Plans for the trial by fire with the dragons, and the wolves get musical.  
> Filler chapter before Arya meets the youngest dragons.  
> Hope you enjoy it.  
> Like, comment, and let me know what you think.

The youngest dragons were sat the sofa a few nights later, Vis was playing on the iPad and Rhaegar reading a book he’d got from school. Their mother had just finished putting everything away after dinner, and paused on her way back into the room. Dany nervously chewed on her bottom lip as she watched her children, she didn’t want to cause a bad reaction by telling them about Arya but she knew how to go about this to keep them calm. The only reaction she seriously worried about was the one they might give when they actually met the other woman.

When she’d worked up enough courage, Dany moved to sit on the edge of the coffee table in front of her children.

“Hey, can I talk to you both for a minute?” Vis nodded enthusiastically as she placed the iPad down beside her, Rhae nodding and putting his bookmark back in - the older dragon meeting both the violet hue of her daughter’s eyes, and the obsidian black of her son’s as she cleared her throat.

“Is this about your boyfriend?” Dany blinked at her son blankly, unsure of what he was talking about. “The only times we get to spend night times with Aunt Mimi is when you go on dates.”

The blonde almost laughed at Rhae’s explanation, it was true that Missandei only babysat them in the evenings for that reason but she hadn’t expected that they’d figured it out.

“You got a boyfriend?!” Vis had exclaimed, more excited by the prospect than her brother. Dany’s eyes blowing wide as she realised that they’d said ‘boyfriend’. The woman swallowed hard before making to explain the situation.

“Erm I- not exactly sweetie… You’re right that I am seeing someone, but I’m actually dating a girl - is that okay with you?”

Her children both looked quizzical as they looked at each other, Rhaegar speaking up when they returned their gaze to her.

“Why wouldn’t it be? We don’t judge them on their gender you know, just on if they’re nice and they make you happy.” Dany smiled at her son, who spoken as if it were something that had been obvious, but to some people it would’ve mattered so the Targaryen had to check.

“True, would you mind if I introduced you to her? So you can see if you like her too?”

The two nodded their agreement to meeting Arya with little protest and Dany felt a wave of relief wash over her.

“What’s her name?” Visenya had asked when her mother sat on the couch between the two children.

“Arya.”

“Is she nice?” Dany laughed at her daughter’s questions, and her son’s occasional ones too - happily answering whatever they wanted to know.

She was lay in bed that night when she decided to shoot a text to Arya about the new development in their situation.

Dany: Hey you, how was your day? Xx

Arya: Better for hearing from you, spent all day listening to my siblings argue about the backing to a track we’re working on. Xx

Dany: Sounds fun. Xx

Arya: Yeah, not so much. How was your day? Xx

Dany: Normal I guess, though I spent the evening telling my little ones all about this amazing girl I’m dating. Xx

Arya: Oh yeah? What did they think? Xx

Dany: I’m pretty sure the general consensus was that they’d have to meet her so they could tell me if I was right about her or not. Xx

Arya: Well then, tell them she looks forward to her trial by fire ;) Xx

The next day Dany had again been awoken by Visenya, who had demanded her attention by 7 o’clock on a Saturday morning. The trio had gone through their usual morning routine; sort out Rhaegar, breakfast eaten, teeth brushed, get changed, etc.

The young dragons had a friend’s birthday party to attend this afternoon and Dany wanted to be able to talk to Arya again before she had to introduce her to her little family. They’d agreed that the Sunday was best, given that the kids had this party and the Stark siblings still needed to finish up their new song - which was where Dany was heading now that she’d dropped her children off at the Tyrell household.

Dany had walked the distance to the Sunset Strip where the Stark tower was situated at the end furthest from Hollywood. The building was as tall as the Targaryen one situated at the Hollywood end of the strip, and had a howling silver wolf’s head on the sign next the the silver and blue text that spelled ‘WINTERFELL STUDIOS’ across the front of the building. When she walked in, Dany had approached the desk rather hesitantly, clearing her throat to force the gaze of the young receptionist to her.

“Hi, how can I help?”

“Erm, I’m looking for Arya Stark.” The girl smirked slightly, nodding as she checked some files.

“Daenerys right? They’re in Studio 15, floor 31, take the elevator on the right and just follow the signs. Here’s your pass.”

Dany was quite shocked by the girl’s response, though knowing Arya she probably shouldn’t have been. She thanked the girl and followed her directions until she found the room - when she knocked, it was Sansa and not Arya that had waved her in.

“Hey Dany.” The redhead had greeted her with a smile as she pulled the headphones from her head. “Sorry, she is here, I just want to get her on the mic to see how everything fits together before we do a full recording.”

“Oh, no worries, I’ll just stay and watch.” She replied, waving through the glass at Arya and her brothers who were stood or sat with mics and instruments.

Sansa unplugged the headphones then and pressed a button so she could speak through to the other room.

“You guys okay doing a run through with the dragon in the room?” Thumbs up from the other side signalled it was fine and the red wolf did a countdown for the group to start. Dany had sat and listened happily as the group did a full run through of the song ‘Waves’ - Sansa informing her that his was one of the songs Robb wrote (the siblings normally sharing the writing responsibility between them).

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KA4w-hBrDAM - Waves by Dean Lewis)

It only took another hour to get the final recording wrapped up, and Arya had left with Dany, leaving the editing in her siblings’ capable hands.

“It’s a nice song by the way. Suits you guys.”

“Yeah, meant a lot to Robb he wrote it when he was still struggling with grief. I always thought it was sweet but he wouldn’t let us release it until now.” The blonde had offered a sympathetic smile, she knew it hadn’t directly affected Arya but she knew what dealing with grief was like, but writing it down often helped and Dany figured Robb’s partner would’ve been proud to hear the song.

“You sure you’re okay with meeting the little dragons tomorrow?” Dany had asked tentatively when they’d found their way to a quaint little restaurant for food.

“I wouldn’t have agreed if I wasn’t babe, don’t worry I’ll be fine.” The nerves showed slightly in Arya’s eyes as she spoke, but her words still helped to calm the Targaryen a little. “How bad are they likely to be with me?”

“Not very, as long as they can tell you make me happy, and as long as you’re as sweet to them as you are to me.”

“Well I shall do my very best my love, you know I want nothing more than to have them like me. Which by the way, your mom didn’t help make the idea of meeting them very comforting.” Dany laughed, taking a sip of her drink before responding.

“Oh she likes to wind people up, don’t let it get to you. I’m quietly confident that you’ll do okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whose reaction are you looking forward to most, Visenya's or Rhaegar's?  
> And how do you think Arya will fare in the trial by fire?  
> Leave a comment and let me know what you think.


	7. The Trial by Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When a dragon lets a wolf in to meet her young, will it all go smoothly or will the youngest dragons put a stop to their mother's new romance. Arya certainly hopes that's not the case, and that she can win the affections of her girlfriend's children too, but only time will tell in this game of hearts if love will thrive or if someone will get burned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Arya finally gets put through her paces in the Trial by Fire.  
> How will the ever tough to please dragons react when faced with the she-wolf?  
> Hope you enjoy it.  
> Like, comment, and let me know what you think.

Arya had spent most of the next morning pacing the backyard whilst Jon sat by the side of the pool reading, he’d all but slammed the book up and sighed exasperatedly at his younger sister.

“Will you pack it in?! You’re making me nervous.”

“Sorry.” She’d mumbled in response but didn’t stop.

“Arya, stop please. What’s wrong?” The younger Stark did eventually stop and met her brother’s questioning gaze.

“I’m meeting Dany’s kids today remember.” 

The man nodded, offering her a small smile and moving to stand next to her where she leant against the railing the blocked the pool from the rest of the garden.

“Why’re you so worried? You’re great with kids, Ben loves you!”

“He’s my nephew he’s under obligation to… They don’t know me, and they’re notoriously against the people that have tried to date their mom.” Jon laughed and Arya sighed, placing her head on the railing. “You’re not helping you know.”

“Fine, I’m sorry, but I still don’t see the problem. All you have to do is be you, and show them you care - they probably just want to know that you’ll stay… As someone who’s lost a parent, that’s honestly all that matters, that the person that replaces them stays.”

“Okay, maybe you’re helping a little bit.” The girl replied, nudging against her brother’s shoulder - who simply wrapped an arm around her.

“See? Not just a pretty face.” Arya shoved his face to push him away from her at that comment, the older man only laughing as she did so.

“Nah, not even that.” The younger Stark stuck her tongue out at Jon as he feigned hurt at her response.

But, despite how annoying he often was, Arya found herself considerably more at ease when her brother left. It was about 1pm when she had shot a text to Dany to tell her that she was on her way over, and got in the car to make the drive across town.

(Yes, she could drive - missing a limb didn’t stop her from doing so, it just meant that she had a hand control for the gas instead of a pedal… and that she’d had to re-take her driving test when she   
had learnt to drive the adapted car.)

Turns out that Jon’s pep talk had only lasted as long as the journey had, and when Arya got to the apartment building it took her a good 10 minutes to psyche herself up so she could get out of the car and head towards the building. She’d exchanged pleasantries with the security guard on the way through and got in the lift to hit the button to reach Dany’s floor.

“Okay, calm down idiot it’s fine, you’ll be fine.” Her personal pep talk didn’t do much to actually calm her down, but it gave her the courage to push out a shaky breath and knock on the door to her girlfriend’s apartment. Arya found herself glad she was standing so her leg couldn’t tap against the floor as it normally did when she was nervous.

The only time the Stark found herself briefly relaxing was when Dany opened the door and wrapped her in a hug.

“Are you okay?” Arya nodded, swallowing her nerves as best she could.

“I’m fine, just nervous. I don’t really want to fail the trial by fire.” Dany had laughed slightly at her and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. The taller woman noted the sound of footsteps against the hardwood floor inside Dany’s apartment and looked down as a young girl poked her head around the side of her mother’s legs.

“Hello!” The girl said, quite loudly, as she smiled up at her. 

“Hi.” The youngest Targaryen had her mother’s eyes, but she imagined it was her father’s raven black hair that was in a platt on her back. “You must be Visenya right?”

The Stark struggled to kneel in front of the girl to meet her gaze as she nodded.

“Uh huh! Are you mommy’s girlfriend?”

“I am, though most people call me Arya.” The girl grinned and stuck an arm out to offer a hand to shake, her tongue sticking out slightly as she looked at Arya who laughed and shook her hand as best she could when it was so much smaller than her own.

“You comin’ in?” Arya hummed in agreement.

“Well, if I can get back up then yes I will.”

“Oh sorry. Here.” Dany held a hand out for the Stark to take, being pulled from her contentment of watching the two interact when she realised that her girlfriend nearly fell as tried to push herself back up.

“Thank you.” She replied with a chuckle, slightly falling against the blonde as she pulled her up. Visenya bounced up and down next to them and held a hand out for Arya to take as she made to pull her towards the main room, Dany trailing behind them.

“Vis be careful darling, Arya can’t run around like you can.” The girl looked guiltily over her shoulder at her mother and slowed their pace a little bit.

Arya made to sit on the couch and Vis crawled up next to her, Dany excusing herself so she could go and get Rhaegar from his room. 

The youngest of the two staying with Arya. 

“Is it true you do music?” Vis asked, feet swinging from the edge of the couch as she did so.

“It is, yeah.”

“Can you play?” Arya followed the outstretched hand to see the girl pointing to the piano in the far corner of the room.

“Erm, a little bit. What were you thinking?” The Stark stood and offered the girl a hand as she walked towards the piano, pulling Vis up onto the bench next to her. The girl just shrugged in response   
and Arya clicked her tongue as she thought. “Oh, you know disney films right?”

“Duh…”

The older woman could only laugh in response.

“Okay, I’ll play and you sing along when you recognise it okay?” Vis nodded her agreement, all but bouncing at the idea of the game. Arya had purposefully picked something obvious for the girl and it literally took her two notes to tap excitedly against the Stark’s leg and all but shout.

“FROZEN!” Over the tapping of the piano keys. Arya nodded and picked up the lyrics a couple of lines in, Visenya happily joining in and dancing around the piano as she did. 

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0yVJUuSZ10 - For the piano backing)

It took a lot of effort for the Stark to keep singing and not burst into laughter at the girl, how she had so much energy was completely beyond her.

Dany had heard the lilt of the piano from the other room when she’d left Rhaegar to pack up his homework so he could come and say hi. The Targaryen leaning against the doorframe to the lounge as she watched her daughter dance around, more than excited by the fact that Arya had managed to start playing her favourite disney song. When the piano faded away Vis had fallen onto the ground, Arya’s laughter echoing in the background.

“Beautiful kid, high five!” Her daughter had jumped back to her feet to go and hit the other girl’s hand in response, and Dany just clapped in the background - both sets of eyes falling on her.

“Mommy we did Frozen!”

“I heard sweetie, it was very good.” The blonde threw a wink over her shoulder to Arya, who shrugged as a blush coloured her cheeks slightly. Dany had known before today that her daughter would get on with Arya just fine, she liked most people and having seen Arya around Ben she knew to expect nothing less of her around Visenya. The only thing that could throw a spanner in the works was   
Rhae - who Dany could now hear emerging from his room.

She turned to watch him walk down in his khaki shorts and dragon t-shirt, and he nervously looked up at his mother. The woman simply taking his hand and pulling him to stand so he was in front of her, but so that she still held his hand.

“Rhae, darling, this is Arya.” She pointed at her girlfriend who smiled and offered him a wave before she moved to get around the youngest dragon that had returned to sit with her on the piano bench.

“Hey Rhaegar, it’s nice to meet you.” The wolf offered him a hand and he had cautiously made to shake it. The boy was as platinum blonde as his mother, but his eyes were almost as black as his sister’s hair, both siblings obviously sharing traits from both parents.

“Hi.” He responded simply. 

It had taken a little bit of coercion but eventually the boy had sat on one of the couches with his mother, Vis electing to sit with Arya as she more openly quizzed the young wolf.

About half an hour in, Arya laughed at another question from Vis who had pretty much asked anything and everything she could. Starting somewhere around ‘what’s your band called?’ and having reached things like ‘do you love mommy?’ before she’d circled back through other things, the latest of which being ‘what’s your favourite disney movie?’.

“Oo, probably Mulan.” Dany laughed at the girl’s response who simply stuck a tongue out at her. “Ignore your mother she just seems to find it hilarious that that’s my favourite seeing as how I was a soldier too.”

“You were?!”

“I was.” The way Visenya’s eyes had blown wide at the comment had been almost comical before she responded quickly.

“If you’re Mulan does that mean that I’d be Mushu?” Arya laughed and pulled the girl onto her lap as she poked her nose, causing Vis to scrunch it up in the same way her mother did.

“I suppose it does little dragon.”

Dany had smiled at the exchange, but that quickly faded when Rhae pushed himself off the couch and walked out to sit on the balcony, not even stopping when his mother had called after him. He’d been unusually quiet all afternoon and Dany was worried before but she hadn’t expected anything other than for him to whisper to her that he didn’t like Arya - which would’ve been crushing in itself but this was strange. 

But when Dany made to go after him, Arya put a hand on her arm to stop her.

“Let me talk to him…” The blonde nodded and moved to sit with her daughter, on the couch that gave a better vantage point to the balcony just in case she needed to intervene.

Arya had knocked against the glass of the balcony door before opening it and stepping out to lean against the railing next to the boy.

“Hey kid, you mind if I join you?” He shook his head but otherwise offered no response. “You’re not okay with it are you? Me dating your mom.”

She met a pair of obsidian black eyes that were slightly watery as he looked up at her.

“It doesn’t matter if I was.”

“What makes you say that?” Rhaegar looked back down at the floor as he replied.

“Because you’d leave anyway, everybody does. They either stop loving my mom or they meet me, no one wants to sign up for a kid with a disability… and the ones that try to stay aren’t any better, they try to be my dad and they aren’t, or they still treat me like I’m broken.” Arya took her time to kneel as he finished talking. “I’m not broken, and my mom deserves someone who wants to stay… with all of us.”

The Stark saw the boy swipe at stray tears that had fallen before he turned to meet her gaze now that he could.

“You are not broken kid, that much I can promise you. What you’ve been through, it just makes you ten times stronger than all the other kids your age.”

“I am though, and everyone outside my family thinks so. They don’t say it but I can tell.”

“I don’t.” Arya’s response pulled Rhaegar’s attention back to her properly. “You know why?”

Rhaegar shook his head as his only form of response.

“Because I’m broken too; but being physically broken, that doesn’t stop you from doing anything.” The wolf sat properly on the floor so she could roll up the leg of her pants to reveal the black of her prosthetic c-leg. “Snap.”

Arya winked at the boy who laughed slightly as he looked down at his own leg. Rhae made to sit next to the wolf as he sniffled back his tears and spoke again.

“How did yours happen?”

“I used to be a soldier and I didn’t look where I was going properly on my way to base once. I stepped on something I was supposed to avoid and when I woke up I was missing a leg.” 

“Well that was silly, you probably should’ve been paying more attention.” Arya laughed at the comment, nodding her agreement.

“It was silly but hey, I manage.”

“Does it still hurt?” The boy looked quite serious as he asked the question and the wolf only answered anything he wanted to know with complete honesty.

“Sometimes, if I walk on it for too long or I don’t put it on right.”

“So that is normal.” The boy looked quite relieved at the answer, and it was then that she realised he’d probably not met that many other people facing the same things he was. Arya nodded simply.

“Hey can I ask you something?” Rhaegar nodded his agreement as the Stark continued. “What do you miss about not having the other leg?”

“Running.” Arya met his gaze as he continued. “I used to play out at the park with my friends or at recess and stuff, but I can’t keep up with them anymore.”

“Have you ever seen the runners in the paralympics?” 

“Yeah.”

“You know those curved legs that they have for running? Do you not have one of those?” Rhae shook his head.

“Mom was going to get me one but they’re really expensive and grandpa says ‘cause I’m still growing that I should wait until I’m older.”

Arya was almost taken aback by that - Aerys Targaryen was one of the richest people in America and he couldn’t afford to ‘waste’ money on helping his grandson run again, yes it’d need to be replaced a lot but still…

“What do you miss?”

“Erm, snowboarding - I used to do that when I was in Canada and during the winters but it’s difficult to try and do that with less balance.” The boy smiled at her.

“That’s kinda cool.”

“Yeah I guess so…”

Rhaegar stood with some difficulty and made his way to sit on the bench opposite Arya.

“So, you like my mom huh?” The wolf smiled up at him.

“I do, a lot - and I know everyone probably says this, but I really do want to stay with her. And I want to stay with you and your sister too, I mean you guys are pretty cool.”

Arya offered him a wink and he laughed a little.

“I hope you do stay. I can tell you make her happy, and you seem pretty cool too. But you’re not gonna replace my dad you know, Vis can’t remember him but I can-”

“I don’t want to replace him. From what I’ve heard your dad was a pretty amazing guy, I’m not here to replace him Rhae - just to be someone else you can talk to okay?”

Rhaegar nodded, the black of his eyes shining as he smiled back at her.

“We should probably go back inside before mom thinks I’m yelling at you.”

“Probably, you’re gonna have to help me back up though.”

Rhae laughed and offered her a hand as he jumped off the bench and between him and the floor Arya eventually managed to get back to her feet, and the boy kept a hold of her hand as they headed back to the lounge to sit with the others.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was long, I know but I hope it was worth the wait and that you enjoyed it.  
> Let me know what you thought.


	8. Lit Like Fire, Cool Like Ice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhae gets to spend some more time with the wolf that was now in his life, and Dany gets to experience a happiness she hasn't done for a while as she watches her son begin to bond with the woman she loves in a way he hasn't done with anyone since his father died.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The dragon family have a coffee break and the wolves get some company in the music studio.  
> Family fluff as Rhaegar and Arya spend some more time together.  
> Hope you enjoy it.  
> Like, comment, let me know what you think.

It was safe to say that yesterday had gone well, much to everyone’s surprise, and Arya had returned home with a smile on her face. 

Dany had been right, Vis genuinely did seem like the friendliest kid in the world and had pretty much immediately taken to Arya. Rhae had put up a bit of a protest at first, but since they’d spoken on the balcony he had begun to warm up to her too.

The Stark wasn’t sure she’d stopped smiling since she got home the night before, pleased and proud that she’d gotten the young dragon’s approval. Her family had teased her but hell she couldn’t have cared less. She was happy, and so were her dragons - all three of them.

Arya stood at work the next day, leaning against the countertop. She didn’t feel or look as exhausted today, the happiness from the night before still keeping her adrenalised. 

She was on shift with Sansa and Jon today, and they were all talking - Arya facing away from the door as the other two walked between the front of house and kitchen. It was 7:15 when she heard her mom greet Dany at the door, and when she turned to greet her she’d been surprised to find the two youngest dragons by their mother’s side.

“Morning.” Arya said across the space, the blonde just smiling at her as the siblings responded pretty much in sync. “What’re you doing here? Don’t you have school?”

Rhaegar giggled as he pushed himself onto the chair on the other side of the counter whilst Dany and Vis were still talking to Catelyn.

“Yeah, but I have a hospital appointment this morning and mom said I could get a cookie on the way if I behaved in the cab.” The brunette nodded her understanding.

“Ah, seems fair to me.”

The Stark went and grabbed a cookie from one of the nearby cabinets and turned back to the boy, holding it just out of reach of his outstretched hand.

“Did you behave?” When he nodded, the girl handed him the cookie and stood with him as he munched down on it.

“Are you doing anything fun later?” The boy had asked between bites.

“I have to go to the recording studio this afternoon so that’s kinda fun, I’m guessing you’re a no to the fun because of school?”

“I don’t go to school on hospital days, but I’m just gonna be bored all afternoon ‘cause mom has work and Aunt Mimi can’t babysit so I’ll just be stuck with Uncle Grey, and alone ‘cause Vis is at a party. He’s cool and all but I’d rather not.” Arya laughed at Rhae as he all too seriously rolled his eyes at the thought.

“Well, you could always come chill with us if you’d prefer?” The Stark had offered it in a joking suggestion, but the boy’s eyes lit up at the offer (which had rather shocked the girl).

“Really?”

“Erm, I mean yeah- if your mom’s okay with it though.”

Rhae grinned at her and Arya happily entertained his conversation until he noticed his mother walking over to join them. Arya smiled up at her and Dany pressed a kiss against her girlfriend’s cheek as she sat her daughter on the stool next to Rhaegar.

“Hey mom?” Rhae’s tone of voice gave away that he wanted something and Arya laughed as his mother raised an eyebrow at him.

“Yes darling, what’s up?”

“Is it okay if I stay with Arya this afternoon? ‘Cause you said you couldn’t find a babysitter.” Dany’s mouth fell open slightly in shock and she looked back to the Stark as she responded.

“Erm, well, if it’s okay with Arya then I don’t see why not.”

“It’s fine, I’ll pick him up after my shift is finished if it’s easier for you?”

The blonde nodded her agreement, still slightly in shock about this turn of events - Rhae never liked anyone Dany dated, nevermind volunteered to spend an afternoon with them.

“If you’re sure?” Arya nodded and all the blonde could do was smile. “We’ll be home by then so just meet us at my place yeah?”

“Alright.”

Dany leant over to kiss the taller woman when she’d given her what they’d ordered and turned to get her children up and moving out of the place as she paid.

“They are adorable by the way.” Arya laughed at Sansa’s words as her sister waved at Vis who stuck her tongue out in return.

“They are - you don’t mind Rhae coming to the studio this afternoon right?”

“Of course not, it’ll be nice to meet him. Plus it means I can tell embarrassing stories about you to someone else.” The red wolf winked as she nudged her sister, the brunette groaning in complaint as the other girl walked away laughing to get on with the rest of her shift.

Arya had made it to Dany’s doorstep at around 11 am, having been let off slightly early so she’d still arrive when her siblings did at the studio. The blonde opened the door pretty much as soon as she’d knocked, kissing her as she led her through to the main room.

“Rhae, Arya’s here, are you ready?” The Stark heard the faint ‘yes’ yelled in reply from the other end of the apartment. “Thank you for this, you didn’t have to.”

“I know, I’m just gonna stick to appreciating that he wants to spend time with me for now though.” Dany laughed as her son appeared around the corner.

“Hi!”

“Hey buddy, is that new?” Rhae nodded excitedly as he showed the brunette his new leg. It had needed changing since he’d grown again and Dany was glad, for his sake, that they’d finally managed to get it done.

“Fits better, and it’s real cool! Look!” The boy pulled the leg of his shorts up a little to reveal the socket of the leg that had a dragon pattern curling around the side of it.

“What?! That’s awesome, mine’s just plain.”

Rhae laughed happily at Arya’s response and Dany honestly thought she was close to melting on the spot at their interaction.

“Anyway, come on you. We should get going so your mom can get to work. I’ll bring him back here when we’re done.”

“Yeah sure, hang on.” The blonde disappeared for a moment before returning from the kitchen with a small key. “Spare key, in case I’m not home. Just don’t wreck my house Stark.”

“Never.” The wolf pressed a kiss to the other woman’s lips, not missing the ‘yuck’ from the younger dragon as she did so, before she led the boy out to where she parked the car.

“You drive? How?” Arya smiled, helping Rhae into the car and getting in herself before replying.

“It’s modified. So, instead of having a gas pedal, I have a hand control up here.” The wolf tapped the control and saw the boy watch her as she drove off, trying to gage how it worked. Arya trying to  
explain it to him on the drive, though she wasn’t sure how much sense she was making to a 7-year-old.

It didn’t take long before they pulled up outside Winterfell Studios, and the young dragon looked sufficiently impressed as they walked into the large building.

“Hi Miss Stark. Here’s your pass, the others aren’t here yet but you have your usual room.” Arya thanked the girl and handed her pass to Rhaegar so he could beep them through all the checkpoints in  
the building. 

The receptionist had been right, they were the first ones to arrive at Studio 14 and the wolf showed Rhaegar all the controls (or the ones she herself was able to name at least - this was more Bran’s thing than hers) and then led him into the recording booth so he could see all the equipment set up. Arya being sure to watch where the boy moved so that he wouldn’t trip on any stray wires or anything.

“Do you play any instruments?” Rhae looked up at the wolf as she spoke, gesturing around the room. He nodded.

“The piano and the guitar…”

Arya grinned as she watched him looking rather excitedly at all the instruments.

“You want to play something?”

“You’d let me?” Arya laughed, moving outside to press the record button before heading back to him.

“Of course. What do you prefer to play?”

“Piano…” He supplied easily and Arya picked him up to sit on the piano bench to one side of the room. She looked around for a moment before returning to Rhae and giving him some sheet music for the song they were working on.

“This is all I have in here, but it’s not released yet so you can play it how you see it and I’ll sing if you want?” Rhae nodded his agreement and tried a few rhythms and playing patterns before he found one he liked and looked over his shoulder to the woman.

“Got it, you can join in now.”

Arya nodded and pulled the microphone over so she could stand facing Rhae. The two starting to play and sing together pretty well, the wolf sufficiently impressed by the dragon’s ability on the ivory keys.

That was where the other Stark siblings found them that afternoon. They’d walked in around half an hour or so after the two already here, and were shocked to already here music coming from the studio - and even more shocked to find that it wasn’t Arya but Rhae playing the piano in the booth, his tongue sticking out slightly as he concentrated.

Jon snapped a photo of the two and sent it to Dany.

Jon: *Insert Image* 

Jon: How is he this good?!

Dany: Oh my God, that’s the most adorable thing I’ve seen all day.

Dany: And he’s been playing since he was big enough to reach all the keys in a chord that’s how.

Jon laughed at the response he got and the five siblings could do nothing but stand and watch as the duo finished up the song. Sansa pressing the button for the microphone so they could both hear  
the sibling’s applause from the other side of the glass, and both Arya and Rhaegar bowed dramatically at their reaction.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByfFurjQDb0 - You Are The Reason by Calum Scott and Leona Lewis)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed it (sorry it was more delayed than the updates usually are).  
> Let me know what you thought, and what you'd like to see more of in future chapters!


	9. A Dragon's Night In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Dany had met the wolf she hadn't expected her to end up being a part of her little family; but as she saw it beginning to happen, she couldn't have been happier to have been proven wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the delay on posting, needed to revise for exams.  
> Here's a short family chapter following on from the last one - will post the next chapter soon too and it'll be a longer one next time!  
> Hope you enjoy this one for now.  
> Like, comment, and let me know what you think.

Dany had gotten home later than she’d hoped that evening; so much so that she’d had to ask Arya to pick Vis up on her way back from the studio too. That had been 2 hours ago, and whilst 6pm   
wasn’t massively late it was later than she’d have liked. After all, Arya had never been alone with the little dragons before.

Dany had received updates every so often, either from Jon, Sansa or Arya herself to tell her that everything was fine so she was sure her girlfriend was still managing but she still felt bad for being longer than she’d intended to be. 

The dragon had all but collapsed through her door in exhaustion when she did finally make it home. She was slightly concerned though when silence rang out clearly through the apartment. She had two young children, there was never silence in this house and the blonde knew they were home - Arya had made sure she knew when they’d got back. A frown made her brow furrow slightly as she made to kick off her shoes and drop her bags in the kitchen so she could sort everything out later, it wasn’t until she was stood in the doorway to the living room that she understood why it was so silent.

The TV was flickering to show only static, the coffee table held three empty plates on one side, and the couch held three sleeping forms.

Dany couldn’t help but smile at the image. Arya had her feet propped up on the coffee table, an arm around each of the younger dragons, and her head had fallen back against the couch - Rhae had tucked himself into her right side, and Vis had curled up on the couch with her head on the wolf’s lap.

The older dragon snapped a quick photo before she retreated into the kitchen to put on some food for herself. When she was done she padded quietly back into the other room, moving to place a kiss on Arya’s forehead as she leant against the back of the couch. The girl took in a deeper breath and grey eyes flickered open to meet her gaze.

“Hey beautiful.” Arya’s voice was thick with sleep as she whispered to her.

“Hey you. Have a good day?” The girl nodded as best she could with her head still on top of the couch.

“It was alright. Rhae was showing up Sansa on the piano, then we played Disney Trivia when we got home - I’m pretty sure I lost.”

Dany laughed slightly as she noticed the board on the dining table behind them, one of the counters still being in-play. The blonde figured the Stark had let them win, but then again she wouldn’t   
have been surprised if she hadn’t - the youngest dragons knew way too much about Disney films.

“Awh, poor baby.” Arya stuck her tongue out at her girlfriend at that comment, both laughing slightly before Dany pressed a kiss to the other woman’s lips.

“Ew! Mommy!”

The blonde huffed as she took note of the fact that her youngest was now very much awake and staring up at them from Arya’s lap. She heard Rhae groan in annoyance at being woken up by his sister, and he all but headbutted the wolf’s shoulder to try and stay asleep.

“Sorry sweetie, I didn’t realise you were awake. How was your day?”

“It was good! The party was fun, I won pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey! And we did more games when we got home!” Dany moved around the couch to sit next to her youngest as she spoke, watching   
Rhae properly wake up in the background and mutter something that pulled a laugh from Arya as she pulled him onto her knee to listen to Vis talking.

Arya stayed over that night - staying in the living room when Dany put the younger dragons to bed at 8pm, and eventually the pair found their way back to bed later that night too.

The blonde glanced up from the book she was reading in bed at the sound of a thud and a muttered ‘ow’ from further into the room. The dragon had to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing as she saw the Stark on the floor, in nothing but her underwear as she’d seemingly tripped over the leg of her jeans she’d been trying to get out of.

“Are you okay babe?”

“Ow…” Dany didn’t quite catch what she muttered after that but watched her push the jeans the rest of the way off before grabbing a spare t-shirt and some shorts to sleep in. 

Arya eventually managed to pick herself up off the floor and perched on the side of the bed to remove her prosthetic leg. 

Dany scooted over so she was close enough to press a kiss against Arya’s cheek.

“Are you actually okay?”

“I’m fine, after a while you get used to the lack of balance.” The blonde chuckled in response as she wrapped her arms around the wolf’s mid-section, resting her chin against her shoulder.

“Thank you for today, it wasn’t exactly planned and you didn’t have to do it.”

Arya shrugged, knocking Dany’s chin as she did so - earning a grumble of annoyance from the dragon for it. She laughed slightly before moving to lie down, the blonde curling into her side.

“It’s fine, it was a good day. I even think Rhae is starting to like me, and Vis must be some kind of Disney genius too… and I think we need to have an in depth conversation with her about how the   
game twister works, and why me and her brother can’t play it.” 

The blonde could do little but laugh at the woman’s words, Arya passing her a playful glare at the reaction.

“I have had that conversation with her.”

“It might need repeating then; she’s adorable but I think she’s trying to kill me.”

The two eventually settled down, and Dany finished the chapter she was reading - despite how distracting Arya was trying to be.

The blonde fell asleep wrapped around the ex-soldier that night. Limbs tangled, with the shorter woman’s head tucked into the crook of the Stark’s neck, comfortable to just be together as they fell   
into a peaceful sleep.

Dany hadn’t expected the wolf to walk straight through her walls and into her heart, and she’d expected even less that the wolf would find her way into the hearts of the youngest dragons… but damn she was so happy that Arya had proved her wrong.


	10. Mario Kart and a Mother's Approval

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Almost a month after the Trial by Fire, Grandma Rhaella stops by to see how her daughter is doing.   
> She discovers way more than she expected too after the trial, when Arya is very much still a part of the dragon's little family.  
> And after spending the day with them all, she finally understands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's another one to make up for the longer break than usual.  
> How does Grandma Rhaella react to finding out that someone has passed the trial by fire?  
> Will Arya also pass the trial by mother?  
> Hope you enjoy it.  
> Like, comment, and let me know what you think.

It was a few weeks later, Arya had stayed over again the night before (the girl had spent more time with the dragons than not recently), and Dany had woken up at around 6am when she her her children starting to move down the hall.

The blonde was stood in the doorway to the kitchen with a coffee and she’d watched as her daughter had gone to interrupt the wolf’s sleep. The dragons had been awake for about an hour and Dany had figured her youngest was bored of waiting for her breakfast.

Dany heard a thud from the other room and she winced slightly before she heard her daughter laughing and Arya’s voice echo out.

“Ugh, brutally assaulted! Here I was thinking you loved me!”

Visenya laughed harder and the 3-year-old came running from the room, Arya eventually trailing after her.

“Morning sleepy.” Dany greeted the other girl, the two sharing a kiss (brief enough for them not to be complained at by her children).

“Morning. I don’t know about you, but I do so enjoy being pushed off the bed at 7am.” The two laughed briefly, and Vis had the decency to look at least a little sheepish as she rocked from her toes onto her heels where she stood nearby.

“Sorry…” The girl had muttered softly as she hugged the wolf, just managing to reach around her knees to do so.

“It’s fine sweetie… right, come on, you woke me up so we could eat so let’s get some food.” Arya swung the girl onto her hip and sat her on one of the dining room chairs, Rhae making his way to sit next to his sister at the same time. The she-wolf pressed a kiss to the boy’s forehead and headed into the kitchen, Dany helping her to make up some breakfast for them all.

Dany sat on the couch a few hours later, watching as the others played - the dragon honestly wasn’t sure why Arya joined in with some of what Vis asked her too, it was physically a struggle for her to do some of it… i.e. the game of twister she was currently attempting to play.

Rhae sat and span the wheel to see what they’d have to do, and the other two attempted to do as instructed without collapsing. Arya had put her prosthetic to one side, having quickly realised that it wasn’t easy to maneuver in a way that wasn’t just walking. 

A knock at the door diverted everyone’s attention from the game, and caused Arya to topple over in a fit of laughter - Visenya following her to the ground before jumping up and landing heavily on the other girl, who played dead in response. Vis just poked her in the cheek and Dany heard a ‘hey!’ tumble from Arya’s lips as she walked away to answer the door.

She was almost sure they weren’t expecting anyone, and after looking through the peephole she opened the door only a few inches so she could poke her head out.

“Mom? What’re you doing here?”

“I just thought I’d come and see my daughter and grandchildren… Is that alright?” The older woman asked, looking quizzically at her daughter’s reaction.

“Dad isn’t with you is he?” Rhaella blinked at the other woman and slowly shook her head.

“No he’s got a client to deal with… Why- oh! Is Arya over? Sorry I didn’t even think about that.”

“It’s fine, as long as you’re alone you can come in.”

Dany chuckled slightly at her mother’s rambling when she realised why her daughter was being so careful. The two walked back into the main room to find Arya still on the floor, with Vis sat on her   
stomach and Rhae laughing at the woman as she tickled his younger sister (probably for the poke from before).

“Morning all.”

“Grandma!” Vis managed to wriggle free from the wolf’s grasp and ran at the older dragon who swept her up in a hug, Rhae following to join a little slower than his sister.

When the two eventually moved back to the living room, Arya had managed to put her prosthetic back on and stood to greet the older woman.

“Hi Arya, how are you sweetie?”

“I’m good thank you, and you?” 

“Not too bad. Glad to see you escaped the trial by fire.” The young wolf laughed as she hugged the older woman, muttering a ‘me too’ as she pulled back and ran a hand through her hair.

They all sat on the couch as Rhae and Vis packed their game away - their grandmother asking serious questions about how Arya had managed to join in, and Dany just looking at her girlfriend with her expression reading something like ‘go on, explain how idiotic your attempts at playing twister were’. The wolf knew it had probably been stupid to join in, but it had pleased Vis and even if she’d lost every game it had been funny to attempt it.

The younger dragons had gone running off as Arya tried to defend herself to their grandmother, who was just laughing at her by this point.

A thud sounded from the dining area behind them and both Dany and Arya winced as they waited for the cry that would inevitably follow. It did, and it was very clearly Vis and not her brother.

“Are you not going?” Rhaella had asked her daughter who just held a finger up to her.

“Mama!” Dany grinned and passed a look over her shoulder to the wolf behind her who immediately got up and moved towards the sound. Dany and her mother watched over the back of the couch as the Stark sat on the floor and pulled the young Targaryen onto her lap to comfort her.

“It’s okay darling, you’re okay. Where hurts?” The girl pointed to her head where she must’ve run into one of the chairs and Arya placed a kiss on the spot she pointed to. “There. All better.”

Dany felt her mother’s gaze focussed on her again and she turned to meet it, an eyebrow raised in question.

“Mama?” The blonde smiled, understanding then that she hadn’t told her mother about the newest development.

“Yeah, she’s been calling her that for about a week now. It’s really sweet, Arya cried the first time she called her it - I’m not supposed to tell people that though, apparently she has a reputation to uphold.” The older dragon laughed and turned to watch the Stark’s interaction with her grandchildren again.

“I think you’ve found a winner with her darling… she’s the first person I’ve seen since Drogo to make you all this happy.” Dany nodded her agreement, a smile tugging at her lips as her little family returned to the couch - Vis requiring lots of cuddles to help her feel better. 

They all had lunch together that day, and afterwards Rhaella had sat with her grandchildren whilst Dany and Arya cleared everything up.

“You both like her then? Arya.” The two dragons looked up at their grandmother and Rhae was the one who spoke up.

“Yeah, a lot. I’m still scared she might leave, but I got a good feeling… plus she makes mom happy.” Rhaella saw the two share a kiss through the doorway to the kitchen from her seat on the coffee table and nodded, “It’s nice that she understands too, with my leg and everything. You get used to being judged, or at least not understood… even people that are nice don’t get what it’s like, Arya   
does, it’s nice to be able to talk to someone.”

The boy shrugged slightly as he finished talking but his smile showed that his words weren’t just him pretending to like someone like he’d done before, he genuinely liked the wolf - and Rhaella could see that it’d be good for him to have someone like her around, she provided some kind of hope that he could still live whatever life he wanted too, hope that he’d be okay.

The older dragon had stood with Arya on the balcony an hour or so later and talked properly to her for the first time in a long while, and she understood.

This girl was all she’d hoped for her daughter to find.

“Rhae likes you a lot you know… I think you give him hope.” The girl had nodded at Rhaella’s words, not looking anywhere but at the city before them as she responded.

“He’s an amazing kid, and he deserves some hope. One of the things I will always remember is probably one of the first conversations we had. He told me that he just wanted to be okay, and I think having contact with someone that’s older and is dealing with the same thing… I think he knows he will be. He’s different, and he knows that - all I do is tell him that all the best people are different.” 

The blonde hadn’t seen what her daughter had seen in many of her previous partners, and she hadn’t understood why she dated them… but this, this she understood. This is the kind of person she   
hoped her daughter would find, someone that fit.

“We watched paralympic clips together recently too, he wanted to know if he could still take part in sport. He told me before that what he missed most about having two legs was running. So I wanted to show him the superhumans that do the things he’s afraid he can’t… and I will not be held responsible if he asks for a snowboard for his birthday.” The two shared a laugh at the thought.

“Well, given that his birthday is only a couple of weeks away, hopefully he won’t have time to add it to the list.”

The blonde shot the younger woman a wink and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

“I’m glad it’s you…” Steel grey eyes turned to look at her in question of the remark and Rhaella replied simply. “You make them all happier than I’ve seen them in a long time… so I’m glad it’s you that stole my daughter’s heart.”

The two eventually returned inside, and Arya made to join Rhae who had been waiting patiently for the other woman so he could put Mario Kart on again. Rhaella sitting by her daughter as the youngest dragon danced around like a cheerleader for the game.

“You haven’t interrogated her too much right?” Dany had questioned in a hushed tone.

“Oh darling please, I’m not your father. We just talked.” Her daughter didn’t look convinced so the older woman turned to face her properly. “We talked… and this one, I understand why you love her.”

“She’s been more than I deserve.”

“Oh honey, she’s exactly what you deserve.” The older woman held Dany’s hands between her own as she continued. “You’ve dealt with your share of bad news. The universe had to repay you with some good at some point… and this seems like it, you seem happy again.”

“I am happy.” Dany’s gave drifted back to Arya, who was nudging her son to try and distract him from steering, and he was complaining greatly about it. His protests leading him to all but sit on Arya’s knee to distract her too.

“No!” The Stark’s cry only brought laughter from both her children when she lost at the last minute, gotta love those blue shells.

The two older dragons watched, both smiling ridiculously wide as Arya swept the boy up and tickled him because ‘how could you betray me like that?!’ - this was Dany’s happy place, with her beautiful little family… and it always would be.


	11. Radio Stark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summer days out and a miracle day for the Starks.  
> The day after they managed to release their first album wasn't expected to be different to any other, but they were proved very wrong in the best way possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day trips to the park and musical successes.  
> Check in on how the Stark family are doing as well as the Targaryens.  
> Hope you enjoy it.  
> Like, comment, and let me know what you think.

Arya had ventured to Runyon Canyon Park a few days later with the dragons. When she’d come by the apartment after a morning session in the studio the trio had been in dire need of a day out of the house.

Rhaegar had recently finished school for the summer so Dany was now desperately trying to find ways to keep everyone entertained when she could get the day off work. That is why today led them to the park relatively close to the Sunset Strip, the kids enjoying the day outside on the park and giving the two women some time to sit and enjoy each others company whilst they watched. 

“He asked where you were last night you know.” Arya turned to meet the violet hue of Dany’s gaze as she spoke. “Rhae, I mean.”

“Have I been staying over that often that it’s weird when I’m not there?”

Dany laughed.

“Probably… I think I’ve been demoted though and I’m not sure how to feel about it.”

“In what way?” The blonde looked back to check on the younger dragons as she responded.

“He got all pouty about you not being there ‘cause he can’t read the book without you or you won’t know what’s happened, it’s not the same if I read it.” Arya chuckled at the sarcastic frown that creased Dany’s brow as she repeated the lecture her son had given her the night before. “Apparently you owe him two chapters tonight to make up for it.”

“Of course I do… and you’re not being demoted, I just do the silly voices when I read so he thinks it’s funnier.” 

The dragon laughed, having seen and heard it first hand she knew exactly what silly voices were being referred to. Apparently there had to be a voice for every character because they do speak after all - it was hard to argue with the logic and her son seemed far too entertained by it for Dany to say anything more on the matter, so she’d always just sit and listen when it came to bed time nowadays. In a way it was nice… Arya was right, it wasn’t a demotion, it just meant she had someone else there to help with everything - the dragon had almost forgotten what it was like to not raise them alone, so it was nice to co-parent again. 

Besides, who could be angry being demoted when it was enjoyable to just watch the wolf interact with her children - they all got ridiculously excited and the silly voices were definitely adorable (and had totally been filmed and shared with Jon the first time she’d heard it happen).

The two had been interrupted not long after when the little dragons came back over to them asking if they could get ice cream or a cookie or something. Rhae more specifically asking if they could go via the Stark’s café to get those things - Vis agreeing.

Both of them had met most of the Stark siblings by now from frequenting either the café or the studio, and they all got on adorably well. Visenya had Sansa wrapped around her finger from the first time she’d spent the afternoon babysitting with her sister, and Rhaegar seemed to take great pleasure from joining in with Arya pulling pranks on her brothers (poor Jon being on the receiving end of many of them, Dany figured it was probably because he was the easiest target - he was already an accident waiting to happen on his own after all).

They agreed and drove down to park a few streets back where it was quieter, before walking the rest of the way to the little café just off the Sunset Strip.

They were greeted, as usual, by Catelyn when they got through the door. Arya trailing behind Dany as she directed Rhae through the door whilst he kept his eyes glued to the game he was invested in   
winning on the wolf’s phone. She heard a cheer as they came through the door and turned in time to see the brunette pull her son onto her shoulders and do a little victory dance with him - the boy laughing as he joined in the dance before the wolf put him back down and took her phone off him for the moment.

“Hi, you okay?” Dany nodded as she hugged the older woman, Vis joining in from much lower down.

“Yeah, we’re good. Had a nice little day trip to the park.” 

“Wow! Did you have fun? Huh?” The blonde saw Vis nod excitedly and start rambling about the afternoon as the older woman placed her on her hip so she could listen to the girl whilst she kept half an eye on the café.

Arya placed a kiss against Dany’s cheek as she walked past her with Rhae and went to sit on the stools by the counter, ordering something from Ygritte while the boy got in a very animated discussion with Jon about something. 

Bran and Rickon eventually came out the kitchen to talk to the group too whilst the little dragons got their sugar fix for the day.

It was about 10 minutes later when the door swung open hard and the group flinched, Catelyn chastising her husband at his entrance but he just waved it off - Sansa and Robb followed behind him, all grinning and very out of breath from running from somewhere (Dany would assume the studio).

“Turn the radio on!” Ned had demanded, his youngest son looked very confused but did as he was told. “KIIS Rickon.”

The boy nodded and changed the station. Dany looked confused as an intro or instrumental played and all the siblings stood to attention, Arya giving Jon a high-5 over the counter - the blonde only understanding why when the lyrics started to be sung.

She’d heard this song… on repeat… for over a week. Her wolf had been trying to get the words to fit right for so many hours, and Rhae had even sat with her on the piano as they both tried to put it together (Dany helping where she could when Vis wasn’t demanding her attention).

“This is the first song you’ve had on the radio right?” The siblings all nodded and she could see Arya’s face light up even before the dragon had excitedly congratulated them all and wrapped herself   
around her girlfriend, all the Starks sharing hugs too.

Arya had been out the night before because the Wolf Pack had been at an album release party - it was their first attempt at the big time and they had managed to get a song on the radio by the next day.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wGN7D03Nho - Let’s Hurt Tonight by OneRepublic)

The siblings were all clearly very proud and rightly so, the song was very good, as was the whole album - Dany would know, she’d heard her girlfriend practising them all often enough.

The Starks all sat around as the song played out to the end and grinned as the radio host promoted the band and their new album, tipping it to be challenging for the number 1 spot within the month.   
Dany tangled her fingers with Arya’s and proudly smiled at the other woman, her children cheering too at the words coming from the radio as they hugged the wolf too.

The siblings had waited a very long time for this kind of break and Dany was glad that they’d finally gotten it, if anyone deserved it then it was the Starks. 

Their father looking on particularly proud as his children took in the good news, all of them shocked in the best way possible - the album release party had worked, and the many members of the LA music industry that had been present had clearly thought they were worth taking a chance on.


	12. Birthday Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhaegar turns 8 today and Arya has a surprise for him.  
> If Dany was keeping record, she'd say that this would go down as one of the best birthday's they'd celebrated.  
> It was definitely one of the happiest at least.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise presents for the birthday boy and happy family moments.  
> Plus, how to be adorable 101 with Arya and Rhae.  
> Hope you enjoy it.  
> Like, comment, and let me know what you think.

Today was June 15th - which meant it was Rhaegar’s birthday, he’d be 8 today. Dany and Arya had been woken up when the boy managed to get his prosthetic on and stumble into their room, and all but collapse on the two women still in bed.

“Wake up! Wake up!” Arya woke up quickest for once and grabbed the boy to pull him into a hug.

“Morning buddy! Happy birthday!” 

Dany managed to wiggle from under her son to join the hug briefly before she got up to sort everything out.

“Wait here with Arya for me Rhae, I’m just gonna go and check what presents you’ve been left.” The boy smiled happily as he sat next to the wolf, almost bouncing with excitement.

It was only about 10 minutes later that Vis pushed through the door to tell them they could come and join them now. Arya being sure that if he had both legs, Rhae would’ve sprinted into the other room. His face lit up at the presents in the living room and Arya saw Dany taking pictures as they appeared from the room.

The wolf sat to one side as the boy opened all his presents in the middle of the room, leaving him trapped in a ring of wrapping paper by the end of it. 

Dany snapped photos of him with his presents to show to his grandparents later, and when he was done opening presents the dragon sat happily trying to set up a scalextric track for them to play with. The wolf smiled as Dany looked back through the photos and turned to nudge Rhae as she spoke up.

“Wait here, I got a surprise for you.” The dragon sat up, looking quizzically at the woman as she walked back towards the bedroom (catching the confusion etched onto Dany’s face as she went too).

The Stark had been planning this since she’d found out when Rhae’s birthday was, and thanks to the recent success of her first album she’d been able to get together the funds she needed to pull this off. She was slightly worried because she hadn’t told Dany what she was planning, and she hoped it didn’t overstep, but she wanted to let the young dragon have something that would help him and that she knew he wanted.

Arya carried the large bag in wrapping paper back into the main room and, just about managing not to trip over the other torn pieces of paper, put it on the coffee table in front of Rhae.

“What’s this?”

“Well, it’s a birthday present, so why don’t you open it and find out?” The boy smiled and Dany came to stand by the wolf as he tried to find an opening in the paper to tear it off.

“You didn’t have to get him anything, you know I put your name on the things from us anyway.” Arya shrugged, smiling easily.

“I know, I wanted to though. We had a conversation when we first met and I wanted to help him with something he told me about.”

The blonde stared at her girlfriend in utter confusion, realising from the smirk that she’d just have to wait and see what it was when her son had finished opening it. Eventually the boy was sat with a black zip up bag in front of him and he looked up at Arya in question, the girl nodding towards the zip.

“Open it.”

The boy pulled the zip down and Dany still couldn’t quite make out what was in it but her son’s jaw slackened slightly and when he looked back at the wolf his eyes appeared watery.

“Happy birthday kid.” At Arya’s smile, Rhae had all but thrown himself into her arms for a hug - the wolf just about managing to lift him off the floor and onto her waist. “You like it?”

Rhae nodded and a grin spread across his face.

“You didn’t have to do that…” His voice was almost shy as he spoke and Arya just grinned.

“I know, but you got a birthday party later and you gotta be able to keep up with your friends.”

The two shared a smile and Dany moved around the coffee table so she could see into the bag properly, the older dragon pulling a hand to her mouth as she saw what it was. She smiled over Rhae at her girlfriend and had to wipe her eyes to stop herself from crying too as she glanced back at the bag’s contents; a bent piece of metal forming the lower part of a running prosthetic that was made to fit the now 8-year-old’s leg.

“Come on, are we gonna try it out? I brought mine too, I’ll race you down the street.”

Dany heard Rhae laugh at the suggestion and saw him nod excitedly. 

Once they were all dressed, Arya had led them to the street and helped Rhae change the prosthetic and stand up in it properly.

“Comfy?” 

“Yeah, it’s real springy…” Arya chuckled slightly.

“It is, you’ll get used to it, it’s just to help you move quicker.” The wolf swapped out her own prosthetic then and, having brought the camera with her, Dany made to film the moment. “Okay. So it’s kind of like your normal leg, except when you run the leg has to swing to the side a bit because there’s no knee joint.”

The woman did a little demonstration and, whilst walking, Rhae repeated the action.

“Yeah, that’s it! You got it! I’ll run with you okay? So, it’s normally easier to push off the prosthetic ‘cause it’s bouncy.” Dany watched with Vis as Rhae mirrored Arya’s stance. “Ready?”

“Yeah.” The smile he was wearing was evident in his voice and Arya turned to Dany for a countdown, that the blonde gladly provided.

“Okay; 3, 2, 1, Go!”

Dany knew Arya had deliberately delayed her start and the wolf laughed as she ran a few paces behind the young dragon who had taken to running again like a duck to water.

The blonde smiled widely as she caught on the camera her son stopping to cheer and, with the extra spring from the leg, very literally launched himself at the wolf. The brunette happily enveloping him in a hug, both of them shortly jogging back with big grins on their faces.

Arya stood with Dany for a while afterwards as she let Vis run with Rhae instead.

“You’re amazing, you know that?” The dragon entwined their fingers and Arya shook her head at the statement.

“He told me that the only thing he missed was being able to run around with his friends… I know what it’s like to feel out of place, at his age that’s out of place. He deserves to be able to be a normal kid - and I know it’s something you’d have done if you could. Luckily I happen to have just released a best-selling album so money was never an issue.”

Dany pushed herself onto her tiptoes to kiss the girl properly whilst her children were distracted. Coming to rest her forehead against the wolf’s when they pulled apart.

“Thank you. You have no idea how long it’s been since he’s looked that happy.”

“Well, now he can enjoy his party - it’s only fair that he can run around, I mean it is at a park.” Dany laughed and tucked herself into the taller girl’s side as they watched the young dragons run around until they got hungry enough to come back inside. 

“You sure you can’t come?” Rhae had complained a couple of hours later when Arya was leaving instead of coming to the park with them.

“Sorry Rhae, I gotta work - I’ll see you when you get home though, and I’ll want to know all about it okay? And you best get your mom to take pictures for me.”

The boy nodded in agreement, smiling at the fact that at least he would see the wolf again later (even if she wasn’t gonna be at the party). 

The Stark gave him a hug and kissed his cheek, moving to do the same with Visenya before she got back up and walked to the door with Dany.

“I’ll see you later?”

“Of course, my love. I promise.” The two shared a short kiss and Dany smiled at her wolf as she leant against the doorframe. “I love you baby.”

“I love you too… have a good day!” 

Arya turned to wave at the dragon as she’d called the end after her retreating form, a smile on both of their faces as the wolf headed to work, and Dany headed for her son’s birthday party.

This was going to be a very good day, and Dany couldn’t wait to see her family’s reaction to having Rhaegar run at them for the first time in 3 years. Her mom was probably going to cry as much as she had when she saw the video of Rhae’s first time running, and of Arya teaching him how to.

Dany was right. 

Her mother had been in tears watching it unfold - she’d shown her when they went to get the food ready for the kids, just the two of them. Her mother stating that it was the cutest thing she’d ever seen, and Dany was inclined to agree. Something Arya would learn about later that night when Rhae told her that ‘mom and grandma were crying a lot, ‘cause apparently we’re cute’.

The wolf had laughed and responded with a simple.

“Well obviously, have you seen us?”

Leaving the whole little family laughing, and rounding off a perfect day as they all sat together so Arya could read in the silly voices to the little dragons before they all curled up to get some sleep.


	13. A Dragon's Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arya is back on solo babysitting duties again, and just in time to take Rhae for athletics tryouts.  
> The reason why?  
> Well, Dany had decided it was about time she sat down with her parents and told them what was going on... or more specifically, told her father what was going on.  
> Will everything really be okay when the dragon's truth comes out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Arya is the most chill babysitter ever.   
> Dany is freaking out about telling her dad.  
> And the Targaryen children remain as cute as ever - cue cute bonding when nightmares occur.  
> Hope you enjoy it.  
> Like, comment, and let me know what you think.

“Okay. The food is in the oven, all you have to do is take it out, Rhae has tryouts at 6, and you know the rest. You sure you’re gonna be okay?”

“Yes babe, we’ll be fine.” Arya chuckled as the dragon rushed around the house. 

It had been almost 3 months since the two started dating, and almost 2 since she’d met the little dragons. Dany had decided about a week ago that now was a good time to tell her father about the fact that she was dating the wolf - she wasn’t sure how he’d react so she hadn’t wanted to just introduce the two and had instead agreed to dinner with both of her parents so she could talk to her father (and have her mother’s support whilst she did so).

That had meant that she was leaving Arya babysitting again, not that it was an issue but she still didn’t want to leave too much for the other girl to do.

Dany wasn’t going to go tonight because Rhae had trials for the local track team, but he wanted Arya there to help him with it so she figured she wouldn’t be missed - besides, her girlfriend had agreed to record his trial for her to watch later. Visenya was happy to go with them and be a cheerleader for her brother too, so she was sure everything would be fine but the dragon would always worry about all three of them (she was still protective).

“I promise we’re okay love, go enjoy your evening… and you look gorgeous by the way.” Arya’s words calmed the other woman considerably and she placed a kiss against her cheek for the compliment.

“Thank you. Though ‘enjoy’ might be difficult, this is my father we’re talking about.”

“You’ll be fine.” Dany shrugged her lack of confidence at the thought, but eventually it would be okay even if he didn’t take it well at first.

“I hope you’re right. Okay! Vis, Rhae, I’m gonna head out. Come here, let me give you a kiss.” The dragon struggled to crouch down in the dress she was wearing to hug her children, wishing Rhae good luck and telling Vis to be good before she stood to hug the wolf leaning against the wall behind her. “Right, come here. Have fun, don’t blow up my house. I love you darling.”

“I love you too.” 

The two shared as long of a kiss as the youngest dragons would let them get away with before Dany waved at them all and left to meet her parents, who were waiting for her in the carpark. 

“Hey sweetheart, everything okay?” Her father had asked as she hopped into the backseat.

“Yeah, all good… eventually.” 

The older man laughed slightly as he started the car, and Dany shared a nervous smile with her mom over the passenger seat as they made their way to the restaurant they were going to eat at.

The place was nice, relatively new according to her father, and it served really good food. Dany wiped her hands on a napkin as her phone buzzed on the table, picking it up to see the text from Arya.

Arya: All set for his trial.

Arya: *insert image*

Dany: Tell him I say ‘good luck’ xx

The blonde smiled and put the phone back down - the image had shown her son in his new kit; running vest, skin tight shorts (that on the 8-year-old still weren’t skin tight), a running spike trainer on one foot, and his new prosthetic on the other. She was nervous for him, but the boy was all smiles and she knew at least Arya’s confidence would help him whilst he was there.

“What are you smiling at?” Dany looked up at her father and responded simply.

“Rhae’s got tryouts for track tonight, I was looking at the picture of him in his kit.”

“Why aren’t you there?” Dany explained that her son hadn’t minded her coming here instead because he was happy for the sitter to take him… which prompted the man to ask something else. “Who is looking after them tonight?”

“Honey, that’s why she wanted to talk to us - because of the person babysitting tonight.” Rhaella reached for her daughter’s hand as her husband looked very confused at the two women.

“Okay, I can’t read minds… What does your mother mean?” Dany laughed at her father’s reaction before clearing her throat to speak.

“I, er- Have started seeing someone and-”

“Wait! I’m only finding out about this now?! I wondered why you’d been grinning at your phone so much recently, what’s their name?” Dany sighed in exasperation at the grinning at her phone part, she didn’t do that… much… okay maybe she did, but she hadn’t realised other people had noticed.

“That’s the part you might not be so enthusiastic about…”

Aerys cocked an eyebrow at the blonde in way of asking her to explain, and Dany’s eyes flicked nervously at her mom who gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. It wasn’t much, but it helped give the dragon enough confidence to continue.

“Her name… is Arya Stark.”

Daenerys kept her head down but she was acutely aware of the way her father tensed up opposite her.

“I’m sorry, Stark?!” To his credit, Aerys hadn’t raised his voice. However, that didn’t stop the fact that he clearly wasn’t comfortable with it. “You know they’re the main reason for us losing clients right? We’ve been rivals since they set up here, and that damned traitor Ned used to work for me too.”

“Aerys, calm down. Remember that your problem is with Ned and not the rest, and you haven’t even seen Ned since he moved to Canada originally.” Rhaella had moved her hand to rest on her husband’s shoulder to stop him continuing on his little rant.

“They have been our rivals for years Ella, they nearly put us out of business before. You’re making nice with those people?” Dany ran a hand through her hair as her father spoke and shook her head as she looked up at him.

“Yes dad, I am… because despite the fact that you don’t think so, they are good people.” She saw her father roll his eyes as she went on. “Arya makes me happy dad, does it really matter that much what her last name is?”

The older man clenched his jaw slightly and sighed, excusing himself for a moment and Rhaella followed him. Dany could see her mother gesturing at Aerys but didn’t know what was being said.

The dragon took a shaky breath and checked her phone to see another message from Arya pop up.

Arya: Just got home, won’t find out how he did until tomorrow but I think it went well. He beat 3 kids his age that still had both legs. How’s it going? Xx

Dany: #proudmom 

Dany: And not so good I don’t think, he went all weird, mom’s yelling at him for it I think Xx

Arya: I’m sorry baby, he’ll come around eventually just give him time Xx

Dany: Thanks, try and get some sleep soon love it’s already 9 and you know you’ll be woken up early. I’ll be home in an hour or two if he stops lecturing me. I love you Xx

Arya: I love you too Xx

Her parents eventually came back over to the table, and Aerys seemed calmer (though still slightly disgruntled). The blonde put her phone away as they took a seat and Rhaella nudged her husband to get him speaking.

“I’m sorry I jumped to the offensive, I know my history shouldn’t affect your present. How about I make you a deal? You let me at least meet the girl, and then I can see if she really is as good for you as your mother says.” Dany smiled slightly at her father’s words, she knew he wouldn’t be as okay with it as her mom was, but at least he was willing to try (even if he’d been coerced into it by his wife).

“Sounds fair.” His daughter muttered in response.

When they left the restaurant, it was getting towards 10 and Dany knew they wouldn’t be home for a good 40 minutes - so she shot a text through to Arya, but getting no reply meant the girl had probably collapsed from exhaustion somewhere in the apartment.

Arya had, in fact been sleeping, that was true. She was less randomly placed than she could’ve been though, having decided to crawl into bed the minute she’d started yawning.

That sleep wouldn’t last long though.

It was 10:30 when the wolf became aware of the squeak of the door hinges to the bedroom and she sat up, finding a sad looking young dragon at the foot of the bed.

“Hey Rhae, sweetie. What’s wrong?”

“I had a nightmare.” Arya sat up and nodded the boy over so she could pull him onto the bed, helping him remove his prosthetic as he sat clutching his cuddly toy dragon.

“Did Drogon not manage to protect you this time?” The boy shook his head as Arya pulled him over to lie next to her. “Well then, we shall just have to combine mine and his nightmare fighting skills, won’t we?”

She saw a smile form on Rhae’s face as he shuffled into the woman’s side.

Neither of the two aware of the fact that his mother had returned home, with his grandparents trailing behind. Dany had wanted to prove her father wrong about something he’d said on the way   
home… “At least I’ll always have Rhae on my side of disapproving.” - he’d said it joking, but Dany had still felt inclined to prove him wrong, and had managed to walk in to see the boy head for the bedroom.

The blonde leant against the doorframe with her father nearby, mouth fallen agape in shock at the scene playing out before him. Dany’s following suit as she heard her son’s whispered words like they’d been screamed.

“Night night… I love you mama.”

The blonde saw Arya bite down on her lip to try and stop her eyes watering at the boy’s words, it didn’t work… but the wolf broke into an easy smile and pulled the young dragon closer as she responded.

“I love you too buddy, sweet dreams.”

…

“He’s never called her that before…” Dany had eventually muttered, once the two had seemed to have fallen asleep again. Rhaella placed a hand on Dany’s shoulder as the blonde swiped a tear that fell from her eye, the older woman smiling brightly at her daughter - before turning to her husband and stating simply.

“I told you she’d finally found a good one.”


	14. The Trial by Father

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arya officially meets Aerys Targaryen and has to show him what his daughter and grandchildren seem to see in the young wolf.  
> Her past, her music, and family all fall into conversation as the oldest dragon gets to know the newest member of the family.  
> Will the Trial by Father end any differently to when she met the youngest dragons or will the happy family remain that way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Family meets and tales of the past as Arya meets Dany's father.  
> How will they get on?  
> (Sorry about the delay in posting, having to keep up with school work and the story, will try and keep updating)  
> Hope you enjoy it.  
> Like, comment, and let me know what you think.

Dany’s parents had spent the night in the office-turned-spare-room when their daughter had offered to let them stay due to the late hour of the night they’d gotten to her own apartment by the night before.

They were awake and making coffee by the time that Dany stirred with Visenya at 8am, which was late for the toddler but she had been awake until later than normal too. The four congregating in the dining room when Dany started plating up breakfast, having heard the thud from the bedroom that normally indicated one of the other two had gotten up - both of them being prone to just attempting to hop out of bed like they still had two legs in their sleepy states, usually resulting in someone ending up on the floor. Laughter followed the thud this time though, so the dragon could safely assume it was Arya that had fallen from the bed.

It only took a few more minutes for them both to stumble from the room, Rhae still laughing as he held onto the wolf’s hand.

“Your son keeps laughing at me and it’s very rude.” The woman stated simply, making Rhae and everyone else laugh more. That was until Dany noticed the bump starting to show on her head.

“Oh my god, Arya what did you do to your head?” The blonde made her way over to check the lump that was already rather big and bruising.

“We’re not gonna go into that… because it’s rather embarrassing.”

Rhae giggled next to them as Arya blushed slightly, Dany standing with her hands on her hips and quirking an eyebrow like she was dealing with her children when they’d done something wrong.

“She fell out of bed and hit her head on my prosthetic on the floor.” Rhae managed to say between giggles.

“Hey! Snitch, I thought that was our secret.” 

Dany laughed as her son just shrugged and made to climb into the chair next to his sister to talk to his grandparents and eat the food in front of him. Dany staying with Arya for a few moments longer, looking over the bump on her head.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah I’m fine, just won’t be featuring on any of our music videos until that goes down… which is fun.” Dany laughed as she led the wolf back towards the table the others were sat at. 

“Morning sweetheart.” Rhaella had said in greeting, Arya only then remembering Dany telling her that her parents were staying over when she finally got to bed the night before.

“Morning.”

They all eventually sat around the table eating, Dany noting the way Arya nervously tapped her foot against the floor whilst her father kept passing glances at the young wolf. He didn’t say anything until they’d eaten breakfast and all properly woken up though. The two youngest running off to play with the scalectrix still set up in the living room from Rhae’s birthday whilst the adults stayed around the dining table.

“It’s Arya, right?” Her father had finally asked.

“Yes sir.”

“It’s nice to meet you kid, I see you’ve even managed to win my grandson over.”

Arya had chuckled at the statement, explaining how they’d had to talk alone and get to know each other more before that actually set in. But there was no doubting now that the boy loved Arya, as did Visenya - as stubborn as Aerys was, even he could see that to be the case.

“Dany mentioned that you took Rhae to a trial last night? Athletics right?” Arya nodded, a smile forming as she flicked through her phone for something.

“Yeah, I did. He did great, didn’t you buddy?” Rhaegar nodded as he walked back over to the table to see the photo Arya showed his grandfather - the one of him in his kit before the trial.

“I beat 3 people that didn’t have a prosthetic.” He explained as Aerys pulled him onto his knee.

“It’s better than it sounds too - there were only 6 in the race so he came 3rd. The people that beat him were considerably taller though so they had a lot longer stride length.”

Dany moved to stand behind her parents too when Arya flicked onto a video of the trial to show them, all 3 smiling happily at how well the boy had done for saying he hadn’t run much for 3 years. The video also allowed them to see Vis doing her little cheerleading dance for her brother to one side of the screen, which was hilariously cute.

“They said they should call about it today but he did really well.”

Eventually the boy returned to playing with his sister, and Dany and Rhaella made to clear the table. Leaving Arya to properly talk to the oldest of the Dragon’s family, the one who notoriously hated her family.

“I’ve been warned against threatening you kid, but I’ll say it anyway.” Aerys said simply when he’d seen his wife and daughter safely disappear into the kitchen. “I don’t know you, but you make them all happy and they like you… So, you best keep them happy, because I’d hate to have to kill you for breaking their hearts.”

“If I ever do hurt them sir, I’d let you kill me. I swear my only intention has and will always be to make them happy.” Aerys smiled slightly, regarding the girl more comfortably than before.

“I’ll never complain about it but what’s with the ‘sir’? Everyone else seems to call me Mr Targaryen, or they get cocky and call me Aerys.” He watched carefully as the girl chuckled, nervously rubbing at the top of her left arm to show off the bottom of a tattoo.

“Habit I guess, I was always taught to be respectful… even if I had a bit of a rebellious phase in my youth.”

“Is that where the tattoo is from?” The older man asked, a chuckle echoing from him at the ‘rebellious phase’ comment - thinking back momentarily to his daughter’s own similar phase.

“Erm, no sir I- it’s an army tattoo.”

The wolf lifted the sleeve of her t-shirt to show the army sigil tattooed onto her shoulder - Aerys didn’t recognise the unit it attached the girl to but the writing of Lieutenant-Colonel underneath the image showed that she had been a high-ranking soldier.

“I don’t recognise the sigil, should I?” Arya smirked slightly and shook her head.

“No sir, officially we don’t exist. Special forces unit.”

Aerys’ blinked in surprise until he heard a laugh from the kitchen door to one side.

“You look shocked sweetheart.” His wife stated with a laugh as she walked back into the room with their daughter to join them at the table.

“Serving in the army is impressive, special forces is extraordinary. So yeah I’m shocked, fair play kid. Am I allowed to ask about your service record?”

“Some parts of it… I had 3 tours, Afghanistan and Syria. We worked the counter-terrorism units, fighting beyond the frontline. The job was hard, but it was always a second family so I enjoyed my time serving… at least until the last tour anyway.” The wolf pointed towards the prosthetic that made up the majority of her right leg in some form of explanation. “I had a rough tour, went MIA for over a year after a mission went sour - I was a Prisoner of War, managed to escape eventually but I stepped on an IED on the way home so… I was honourably discharged about 3 years ago.”

Dany watched on as Aerys and Arya kept talking about the army, how she dealt afterwards with the prosthetic and everything, the music they now do, and eventually about how her family were (her father was still more cagey about that, but Rhaella knew that Aerys had missed his former best friend so she hoped at some point they’d managed to bridge the gap. Arya could maybe be the person that helped with that, she seemed to have a knack for making their little family happy again).

When the two older Targaryen’s left later that morning, they all seemed much more at ease. In fact, much to the shock of Daenerys and Arya herself, Aerys had hugged the wolf goodbye before he wrapped his daughter up too.

“I’m glad you’re happy… her last name doesn’t matter, I’m sorry I overreacted before. You know I just want you all to be happy.” He had said to his daughter whilst the wolf was distracted talking to Rhaella.

“Thanks dad. I know you do, and I kind of expected the reaction anyway so don’t worry. At least you know I was right now.” Dany replied with a smile, her father laughing at the remark.

“Well, like your mother, you’re always right sweetheart. I expected to be proven wrong by you, not having Rhae on my side was a strange one though.”

Dany laughed in response, noticing her children both by the wolf as they said goodbye to their grandmother. 

“It’s sweet.” Was all the response she came up with as she watched her little family messing around together, all smiles as was the new norm for them nowadays.


	15. A Veteran's Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The little dragons go to spend the weekend with their grandparents, but the dragon and the wolf couldn't have something as simple as a peaceful afternoon.  
> A veteran's life isn't always better now they're not serving, but Arya was glad that she had less bad moments now.  
> Even if there were sometimes blips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time without the children but peace? Not on day 1 at least.  
> Dany's 101 on how to deal with PTSD triggers.  
> The rest of their weekend alone will be in following chapters.  
> Hope you enjoy it.  
> Like, comment, and let me know what you think.

They had indeed had a call from the athletics team later that day, and Rhae had secured himself a place on the team. To which he’d jumped around so much that he’d fallen over from his own enthusiasm.

He’d been training every week since, both of them normally home to take him, and his grandparents had joined them at his first competition a week ago. 

He’d managed to finish 4th out of the 8 finalists, in which he was one of only two disabled athletes racing, but where he finished never really mattered - he was just happy to be able to participate in the event. Visenya being even more happy to get to be a little cheerleader for the day, it was a good way to have brought the little family closer together.

Both the children were staying with their grandparents this weekend though - meaning that Arya and Dany would get a couple of days to themselves for a change.

They dropped them off on the Friday afternoon and would pick them up again on Sunday morning - Rhaella and Aerys having decided to take the little dragons to the beach for the Saturday so needed to allow time for travel, etc.

On the way back from her parent’s house, the two had stopped off for a coffee at the wolf owned café before they headed home. When they arrived, Dany noticed that they were doing some construction work around the back of the building where the car park was, scaffolding stacked up to the top of the wall so the builders could drill into it - Dany figured the hole would be for something requiring wires to be installed, the size of the hole indicating that it couldn’t be much else.

“I didn’t know they were doing work. What’re they installing?” The blonde had questioned as she watched them for a beat.

When she received no response, she’d turned to look at her wolf, the girl looking more than uncomfortable as her foot tapped against the floor next to the pedals and she squeezed her eyes shut after they’d stopped the car. Dany reached for her hand but Arya had flinched away harshly when she’d made contact.

“Arya, love, are you okay?” The girl shook her head but that was the only change in her movements. Her eyes remained shut and her foot kept tapping harshly against the floor.

The girl stammered her words as she attempted to speak and Dany caught none of it, the girl resulting to a huff of annoyance as her left hand clenched against her side until that movement replaced the tapping of her foot.

“Baby I don’t understand what you’re trying to say to me, what’s wrong?”

Dany kept her voice as soft as she could, attempting to prevent the worry from edging into her tone. She’d never seen the wolf react like this to anything before.

“P-P-PTSD…” The wolf eventually managed to stutter out and it hit Dany like a tonne of bricks. She didn’t understand why it was triggered by this, but the fact that it was triggered wasn’t a good thing - she’d gone through it on a minor scale with Rhae after the accident, but Arya’s was likely to be ten times worse than that. She’d not only been a soldier, she’d been a prisoner of war and that kind of trauma left an irreparable mark.

“Okay, it’s okay, hang on. I got you.”

Dany looked around for a moment for anything that could help the girl. She finally managed to find a pair of headphones in the glovebox of the car and plugged them into her phone before she struggled to place them in Arya’s ears so the music replaced the sound of the construction workers’ tools.

‘Better?’ she mouthed to the girl when she looked up at her, Arya nodding her agreement with a slight smile as she rested her head against the dragon’s shoulder.

It took a few minutes but the construction workers seemed to clear for a break and Dany took the moment of silence to get the wolf clear of the situation.

“Come on, we should get inside whilst they’ve stopped you won’t be able to hear it in there.” The blonde muttered as she tugged one of the headphones from Arya’s ear. 

“Okay…” The response was whispered and still shaky, but it was enough for the dragon to move around the car to lead Arya away from the car park and into the café door on the other side of the building. Catelyn was on her way back to greet them at the door as they walked in, and the older woman’s eyes blew wide as she saw her daughter trailing after Dany.

“Oh my God! Arya, sweetheart, what are you doing here?! I told you not to come in today, I give you days off for a reason you know.” The younger Stark laughed bitterly as her mom wrapped her up in a hug. “Are you okay?”

“Not so bad now… I really hate that sound though.” Arya stated simply when the older woman pulled away to lead them both towards the seats at the bar. Catelyn squeezing her daughter’s shoulder as she walked past to make up their order.

“Are you sure you’re alright now? I was kind of worried.” The blonde said softly, nudging against her girlfriend’s shoulder, the woman offering her a small smile.

“Yeah I’m fine, just wasn’t expecting it… The sound of drilling is one of the worst triggers for it. It always sounds like they’re drilling through bone.” The wolf stated darkly as she flattened her left hand against the countertop, revealing a jagged circular scar in the middle of her palm. Dany winced as she realised what Arya had meant by her previous statement.

“That was a- oh god, I’m so sorry, I didn’t know.”

“It’s fine. It’s not exactly something I like to talk about, but I was a PoW for over a year, they put me through enough for me to develop a fair few triggers. That was always the worst… especially in Los Angeles, there’s always something being built.”

Dany tangled her fingers with Arya’s left hand as she spoke, covering the scar she was staring at and bringing her gaze back up to meet hers.

“At least now I know about it.” Arya had nodded her agreement, drinking the water offered to her before heading off to the bathroom so she could take a moment to calm down properly.

“For the record, the worst triggers are: drills, guns or anything that sounds like one, sand, time anchors to the last tour… Just so you know.”

Dany thanked the other woman, and Catelyn made sure that the dragon was okay too - the first time dealing with PTSD of that scale was always hard, but from what she’d gathered, the girl had handled it well. Arya seemed a lot better when she’d returned too, and the other Stark siblings on shift had come out of the kitchen shocked to find their sister their and had made sure she was alright (Sansa even heading out to yell at the workers to stop work for a while).

The two staying for their coffee before heading back to what had started to become their apartment and not just Dany’s.

“I’m sorry about all that by the way…” Arya said as she kicked her shoes off and walked towards the living room, Dany making her way to stand in front of the girl when she heard her words.

“Don’t be silly babe, it’s not your fault. I’m sorry you had to deal with that, I know it can’t have been easy.” Arya managed a small smile as Dany wrapped her arms around her neck, nudging into her nose.

“I’m used to dealing with it, it’s no easier but I know how to cope… Thank you though… for not getting weirded out, and for helping… I know it’s not easy to know what to do.” 

“You know I’ll always be here for you okay? No matter what.”

Arya smiled as the blonde pressed a kiss to her lips, both grinning when they pulled apart in their own time - without being told off by one or both of the youngest Targaryens. The two spent the rest of the evening talking about how to deal with each of the triggers if they ever had to, Dany realising that the PTSD was the reason for Arya jumping a mile every time a race was started at the athletics and it was immediately less funny than her and Vis had originally thought. At least she understood now, and she was glad that Arya had let her see that part of her too - and under strict oath to not speak of it she’d been told more of how the scars that traced the wolf’s body got there, when they were in bed later that evening.

Dany had known it was bad, but she hadn’t been close to understanding how bad it could get.

The girl had been through enough suffering for several lifetimes, and Dany knew she could do nothing to prevent the pain that lingered on because of it. However, she could help to replace those memories, or to make up for the bad with a hell of a lot more good.

Which was why they’d jointly decided to go on their own day trip tomorrow too, to make the most of the time they could spend together without the little dragons.

They were going to venture into Hollywood for the day, visiting the tourist attractions and anything else they could find to do. They figured they were probably overdue another ‘date night’ anyway and, with the late summer weather still providing considerable warmth, it was the right time to do day trips like this.

So they both managed to drift off in peace that night, despite the day’s events, they were looking forward to tomorrow instead of wallowing in the past.

“Hey Dany?” Arya whispered to the blonde who was snuggled into the crook of her neck.

“Mhm?” Was all the response she got from the girl, voice thick with sleep.

“You’re amazing, you know that?” The wolf laughed as she felt the dragon nod against her. “I love you, weirdo.”

“I love you too.”


	16. A Hollywood Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dany and Arya finally get to go out as just the two of them on a date again, both eager to enjoy their first day trip together.  
> It was time for them to just relax and have some fun, maybe even to make some new friends too.  
> Today was a good day, as was everyday, simply because they were together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day trips and cute meets.  
> (Sorry for the delay I've been struggling with Repetitive Strain Injury in my wrist and I was under doctors orders not to type unless it was for my A-Levels for a while)  
> Hope you enjoy it.  
> Like, comment, and let me know what you think.

The drive up had been the most ridiculously fun journey Dany thought she’d ever been on. They pretty much spent the whole time singing whatever song came on the radio really loudly, laughing when they got funny looks from passersby who had obviously heard them through the open car windows.

They’d found a car park on the outskirts of Hollywood so they could walk into the city, and so they’d avoid the traffic. It was about 10am when they’d got there, and they had made to go and walk down Hollywood Boulevard for a little while - both Arya and Dany occasionally name dropping if they saw a star with the name of someone they knew in it. They’d decided to head into the wax museum at one end of the strip. It was something silly to do that neither of them had before, and it would help pass the time until lunch because honestly they’d ended up getting here a lot quicker than they’d expected (though Dany figured that was mainly because Arya had made her shower alone this morning - the dragon had offered otherwise but the wolf had, in her own words, told her   
“My prosthetic isn’t waterproof babe, and it’s kind of hard to stand never mind do anything else in the shower when you only have one leg. One of us would end up breaking a limb and I don’t know about you but I can’t afford to lose the use of anymore of them.” - Dany had laughed and gave in on that one, realising the wolf probably had a good point, broken bones weren’t what she wanted from today).

The two had walked through the museum, not being quite as intently interested in the wax workings as some of the people walking around acting like they were observing ancient greek sculptures. 

Arya had pointed one man out the dragon that was dressed to the nines - like he was going to a gala to observe some very serious art. He wore a pinstripe brown suit, with a very flowery shirt underneath and a hideously pink fedora on his head. Dany had done her very best not to laugh but Arya had blown that completely out of the window when she nudged her and muttered a ‘watch this’ to her. Dany knew then that something was about to end poorly and she took out her phone to film whatever it was the wolf was doing.

“Excuse me sir.” Arya started as she tapped the man on the shoulder. “I’m sorry to interrupt but my girlfriend and I saw you from over there and we were admiring your fabulous hat, I don’t suppose you’d let me try it on?”

Dany outright laughed as the man looked between the two. He spotted her and instead of being offended, he smiled and handed the hat to Arya - who looked even more ridiculous in it than the man had.

“Thanks! It’s an awesome hat. What d’you think babe?” She stated rather loudly across the room and Dany couldn’t have stopped laughing if she wanted to.

“I don’t think pink is your colour sweetheart.” She eventually managed to reply.

“Oh well, you win some, you lose some. Have a nice day sir.” 

Arya gave the man his hat back and bounced over to Dany where she all but collapsed onto her in fits of giggles. 

The two spent the rest of the morning walking around, posing stupidly with different wax figures and taking the world’s most embarrassing photos of each other (some of which Arya was worried would appear on her social media come her birthday). 

It was around 12 when they had emerged from the museum to find somewhere to eat. The two managing to find a small restaurant nearby that sold good food and seemed reasonably priced. They’d happily placed an order and sat across from each other at a small table to one side.

“You know, I have such amazing photos to use on your birthday now.” Dany said as she flicked back through her photos, laughing when she saw Arya looking much less than pleased at the thought.

“Please don’t… I get enough of that from my siblings, last year my mom even joined in.” Dany bit her lip to keep from laughing at the thought of even a woman as sweet as Catelyn Stark taking to being a little mean to her daughter. “Don’t laugh at me, it wasn’t funny!”

Arya sighed in exasperation when the dragon did the exact opposite, properly laughing at her now.

“Sorry, it was kind of funny though. They showed me the pictures.”

“I hate them all.” The wolf muttered as she let her head fall against the table. “It’s okay, if you do join in on them bullying me then I can get my revenge.”

Dany over exaggerated her gasp as put her hands over her heart. 

“You wouldn’t. I am wounded that you’d even consider it.” Arya simply stuck her tongue out in return and the two fell into more comfortable conversation as their food arrived, and Arya made eating slightly more difficult as she kept the dragon’s right hand tangled with her left. Both of them having to struggle to eat without the use of their dominant hand.

After lunch they’d gone walking through Hollywood and decided to venture up the hills to the hollywood sign, both prefering to be away from the busy city anyway.

It took them some time, and they’d stopped on their way to get some food so they could eat when they reached the top. The walk had been peaceful, something you forget is a thing when you’re normally chasing after 2 young children. The change was a welcome one and it had allowed them some time to just be together for a while - talking the whole way to the top, fingers laced together whilst they made the steady ascent of the hill. It was getting on for about 5pm when they reached the top, having spent some time in the city after lunch first and having taken their time to get their.   
Another couple had kindly offered to take their photo for them at the sign and they’d eventually sat and had a small picnic in front of the sign with the others - Loras Tyrell (who both girl’s had heard of and Dany actually knew from working with the Tyrell family) and Renly Baratheon. The two made a sweet couple, and the new kind of ‘double date’ they’d found themselves on had been an interesting twist.

“I didn’t know you were seeing anyone by the way, and I only spoke to your dad a month or so ago.” Loras had stated to Dany as he sipped at his drink.

“Yeah well he’s not known that long… As you can imagine it went down a treat.” The man had laughed when he saw Arya’s rather unamused reaction to the statement.

“He likes you now though.”

“Yeah… He had to threaten me a few times before he got to the accepting it stage though.” The dragon shrugged, she couldn’t argue the point she knew it was true but at least they got on now.

“Don’t worry, my family shunned both me and Loras when they found out so it could be worse.” Renly spoke up from where he was being used as a pillow by the young Tyrell.

“Seriously?!”

“Yeah, it got pretty bad. I actually had to move in with him and his family until we could get our own place, home life was getting too rough and it’s better to not be in that situation.” 

The two women were slightly shocked at the thought, I mean it hadn’t been plain sailing to get here, but it had never been a dangerous situation for them. It kind of brought things into perspective a bit… Laws could change but at the end of the day only we could change our own views. Sometimes that wasn’t easily done, and it could lead to bad situations like Renly’s - it was hard to know what to do in those situations but the boys were quite lucky that they could move in together when the Baratheons rejected their son, their brother for being who he was.

“It’s all okay now though. I mean, not completely in the family situation, but we’re happy and he’s safe so that’s all I could’ve hoped for.” Loras spoke softly, and Renly had placed a kiss to his forehead as he spoke.

“I’m sorry it got like that, I can’t imagine what it must be like. Though it’s good to see you’re happy now.” Dany offered with a smile that the boys happily returned.

“Come on, I’m intrigued. How did you two meet?” Renly asked to lighten the mood.

“Erm, I was sleep deprived and in dire need of a coffee.” Dany said easily as she leant into Arya’s side, eliciting a laugh from the rest of the group.

“Yeah, and I was completely oblivious to the fact that you had a crush on me for weeks… then my brother told me to grow a pair and ask you out and here we are all these months later.” Arya added,   
Dany sticking her tongue out at her - but the wolf ignored the gesture and kissed the dragon’s cheek.

“Well ain’t you adorable huh?” Both girls blushed slightly at Loras’ comment and Renly seemed to find the reaction particularly amusing. 

“Well obviously.” Arya had stated back sarcastically, though she was unable to quell the blush tinging her cheeks red as she spoke, and the boys laughed in return at her simple comment.

The group talked long into the evening about their own lives and their little family lives - the boys spending a few minutes gushing over how cute they all were when Dany showed them some pictures she had of her, Arya, and the children. It had been a good day, a special day, and they’d ended it on that hilltop with friends as they watched the sun sink below the Hollywood skyline.

They’d gone their separate ways eventually, though agreed to meet up again at some point, and the two had begun their drive home. 

“We should really have days out like this more often.” The blonde had stated simply as she stared out of the open window at the stars filling the sky.

“We should, it was a good day.” Arya pulled Dany’s hand up to place a kiss on the back of it, the dragon turning in time to see the smile spreading across her wolf’s face as she kept her eyes on the   
road.

“I love you , you know that?”

“I know. I love you too Dany.”


	17. Our Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dany and Arya are reunited with the youngest dragons after their weekend alone.  
> The little family deciding to go and visit the Starks for the afternoon.  
> Family catch ups and a double date invitation whilst they happily fall back into their own little family life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Visiting the Stark family and competition ensues, as always, and Danarya get an invite out with Loras and Renly.  
> Sweet family dynamics and Rhae gets competitive with the Stark siblings.  
> Hope you enjoy it.  
> Like, comment, and let me know what you think.

Dany had gone to pick up the little dragons with Arya the next morning. Both being happily greeted by the two as they ran at the two women. The whole way home they’d told them stories of what they did on their day trip to the beach; of the ridiculously big sand castle they made, of grandpa Aerys getting a lilo so Rhae could go into the sea with them (without his leg on of course), and of the fact that they’d had burgers and ice cream for dinner (which wasn’t shocking, Dany’s parents tended to spoil the two).

They spent the rest of the morning catching up, or running around with the younger dragons at the local park. The afternoon bringing the first family trip to the Stark household - both of the children had met the Stark’s by this point with Arya, but they’d never gone over to visit as a family.

They four had got there at around 2pm, Arya just letting them in since she still had a key.

“Hey all.” She’d said pretty loudly as they walked through the door and headed towards the living room. 

“Hey!” Dany laughed as she heard the siblings respond, all completely out of sync with each other.

“Woah, since when were there dragons in my house?” The eldest Targaryen rolled her eyes at Robb as he appeared behind her and gave her a quick hug before he was attacked by the little ones.

“Hey Uncle Robb.” 

“Hey buddy.” The man offered Rhae a high five and made to reciprocate the hug Vis was giving him at the same time, almost falling over as he tried to do both.

“Hey sweetie, how was Hollywood?” Dany turned in time to see Catelyn pull away from her daughter to come and wrap her in a hug too.

“It was great, right babe?” The blonde nodded in agreement, both sharing a smile as they made to join the others in the living room. Vis excitedly joining Ben when she realised he was here too - according to Arya the two had clicked the last time she was here so the Stark wasn’t surprised to find the young Targaryen heading straight to her nephew who was colouring in a book on the floor.

Dany watched as her girlfriend made her way around to greet the rest of the family, the move taking a while given how many of them there were, but they both eventually fell onto one of the couches together. Arya putting an arm around Dany’s shoulder as the blonde put her legs across the wolf and tucked into her side.

“What did you get up to in Hollywood then kid?” Ned had asked when they’d all settled down - Rhae starting a little mario kart tournament with Jon and Rickon whilst they talked.

“Erm- we went to the wax museum for a while which was so funny, and had lunch, walked down the walk of fame, and we went on a little adventure up the hills to the hollywood sign. Oh and we met   
up with Loras Tyrell and his secret boyfriend.” Arya replied with a slight laugh at the last sentence.

“Oh! How is he? I haven’t seen him since he was what 15?” Catelyn asked eagerly. The elder Starks having been friendly with Olenna and her son Mace Tyrell when the children were much younger.

“He seems to be doing well…” The brunette trailed off as she looked to Dany who nodded.

“He does, and him and Renly make a really sweet couple.” Arya hummed in agreement to Dany’s statement, the Stark parents smiling as the blonde found the photo of the four of them to show them all.

“That’s a really sweet photo. I’m glad you both had a fun weekend to yourselves. Getting back to normality now though eh?” The two laughed with Ned as they looked back over to the little dragons - Vis still colouring with Ben and Rhae still beating Jon at mario kart.

“Yeah, I’m getting a nice little break tomorrow though aren’t I babe?” Dany said as she tilted her head back to look at Arya, who stuck her tongue out in return.

“Yes you are. That’s because you two are coming to the studio with us tomorrow aren’t you?”

“Yeah!” The two young dragons shouted up from where they were in the room, Rhae following his response with a cheer as he won the race again.

“You gonna show my kids up again bud?” Ned asked as he walked over to ruffle the boy’s hair.

“Obviously.” He replied with a cheeky grin. All of the Stark siblings turning to look at him in mock horror at the response, which only made him, Vis and Ben laugh at them all.

“That’s alright, it ain’t me he’s replacing.” Arya muttered, both Sansa and Bran whined out a ‘hey’ as they realised what she’d said. “What?! Did I say you two?”

“He plays piano, it was implied.” Sansa stated, looking highly unamused at the situation. Dany having to turn into the crook of Arya’s neck so the siblings didn’t catch her laughing at them. 

“That doesn’t make you invisible Dany, please stop encouraging her.” Bran said, nudging into the Targaryen as he wheeled past the couch and into the kitchen.

Arya pushed herself off the couch when Rhae called her over and she joined in the now fourway mario kart game with him, Jon and Rickon. Catelyn moved to sit near the dragon as they watched them.

“They take it so seriously, weirdos.” Dany stated as she saw Arya push her brother off his seat to distract him.

“They might be weirdos, but they’re our weirdos eh kid?” Catelyn replied with a smile.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“Me neither.” The Stark woman pulled Dany into a side hug as they laughed at Rhae who jumped in front of Arya so she couldn’t see, allowing him to move into first place. The younger wolf sweeping   
him up into her arms to tickle him when he crossed the line first and cheered maniacally.

“How dare you?!” She said jokingly as the boy laughed in her arms.

“No! Mama, stop!”

The two other women laughed softly until Dany’s attention was pulled away from the image when her phone buzzed in her pocket.

Loras: Hey nerd. What you up to?

Dany: Hey L. I’m watching the other nerd be a weirdo, you?

Dany: *Insert image* (She’s not pleased that he beat her at mario kart)

Loras: That’s adorable. I’m with Ren, we’re just getting back from my parent’s house. Just wondered if you and A wanted to meet up sometime soon.

Dany: Are you asking us on a double date? *gasp*

Loras: Hilarious. What’d you say, you free next Friday?

Dany: Yeah, sounds good. Text me the details? I’ll let the wolf know when she’s finished whatever she’s doing. XD

Loras: Okay. Talk later Dany, have a good evening.

“Right, that’s it, I’m coming to get you both now.” Dany stated as she pushed herself up and pulled her son from Arya to press a kiss to his head before she put him down, moving to boop the wolf on the nose. The other girl groaned in complaint at the action, Dany kissing her quickly to shut her up and Arya just smiled (Rhae was less pleased where he stood behind his mothers). “Loras and Renly invited us out next Friday by the way, we’re free right?”

“Yeah babe, as far as I know.” Dany smiled at the wolf’s response and linked their hands together as they walked off to collapse back against the couch. “Did he call me a nerd again?”

“Of course. But you are a nerd so…” Dany shrugged as her girlfriend stuck her tongue out at her in response. “It’s okay though, you’re my nerd.”

“You best believe it baby.”


	18. A Dragon, a Wolf, a Stag, and a Rose Walk Into a Bar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arya and Dany go out on a double date with Loras and Renly.  
> The four start to develop friendships and share stories.  
> Just because family comes first, that doesn't mean that you can't make time for friends too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double date night. Danarya and Lorenly - friendships and story times.  
> Just some good old friendship fluff.  
> Hope you enjoy it.  
> Like, comment, and let me know what you think.

“Dany, love, are you almost ready?” Arya called out through the apartment as she moved the dishes into the kitchen from the children’s knees.

They were supposed to be going out tonight with Loras and Renly, they had a reservation downtown at 6:30 and it was already getting on for 6:15. Arya had got changed first so one of them was always with the little dragons, and Dany was just finishing up as a knock sounded against the door. The wolf made to open it to find Missandei and Grey on the other side.

“Well don’t you brush up nice Stark?” Arya smiled at the woman’s compliment, looking down at her attire. The dark jeans and flannel shirt with a tie making her look smarter than she normally would going out.

“Thanks, pretty sure Dany will always look far better than me though.” She replied easily, leading them back into the apartment in time to see her girlfriend emerge and kiss the little dragons goodbye.

The woman wore a long, deep blue dress and the wolf was sure she was staring - but hell, she was allowed, even if Dany had walked straight over to her and placed a finger under her chin to move her gaze back to her eyes.

“You’re staring darling.”

“Can you blame me?” The dragon smiled easily, before moving to greet the two babysitters. The four moved quickly to make sure everything was ready for the night, and eventually Arya and Dany managed to leave the apartment and begin the short drive to the restaurant they were meeting the boys at.

Loras and Renly were already there when they arrived - both smartly dressed, Loras sporting a rather flamboyant shirt covered in a gold flower pattern.

“What time d’you call this?” The Tyrell asked as he stood to hug the two women.

“Fashionably late, obviously.” Arya replied with a smile. “How are you both?”

“We’re good. Although I had to drag this idiot to the ER this morning didn’t I love?”

Both girls quirked an eyebrow at Loras at Renly’s statement about the ER, waiting for the other man to explain himself once the blush splashed across his cheeks started to subside.

“I erm- I tried to roll us over on the bed and I might’ve fallen off the edge… and cracked my head open on the bedside table.” Arya didn’t even try to stop herself from laughing as she brought her   
head down to rest against her arms on the table, Dany having to bite her lip to stop herself from joining in. “Thanks guys, really appreciate your concern, I’m fine by the way.”

Renly chuckled at his boyfriend’s response to the reaction, making to grab his hand as he nudged against his shoulder.

“To be fair babe, it was pretty stupid.” The man stuck his tongue out at that statement and Dany made to interrupt.

“Don’t worry Loras, this one has probably done worse.”

The blonde placed a hand on her wolf’s back as she spoke and she saw the woman’s head snap up from the table out of the corner of her eye.

“Hey!” Arya’s voice squeaked from beside her, before she added “I mean you’re probably right but still…”

“It’s okay sweetheart, you’re my idiot, and you know I love you.” The statement pulled an easy smile from the wolf as she sat up to wrap an arm around Dany. The waiter interrupting conversation briefly, so the group could order in drinks and food. 

“So, you never told us before, how did you actually manage to safely introduce the wolf to your little ones? They’re not exactly accepting of most… I remember Daario, that was hilarious.” The dragon laughed slightly at the comment. Her children had caused poor Daario a lot of trouble when they’d been dating - neither of them engaged in any conversation he’d offered after they decided they   
didn’t like him after their first meeting, and once Rhae had even gone as far as leaving a toy car out for the older man to end up stepping on, Daario had broken his nose from the fall and his reaction to Rhae from then on had meant that there was no way Dany could’ve even considered keeping him around.

“Was that the broken nose guy?” Arya asked in slightly more hushed tones.

“Yes baby, it was.” Dany rolled her eyes at the smirk on Arya’s face, she’d always found that story particularly funny. “But it was actually surprisingly easy to introduce them to Arya. Vis took to her pretty quickly, or at least engaged in conversation and some singing until she was satisfied. Rhae took a little longer, he stormed out for a little while - but this one went after him and they talked, and when they returned he was holding onto her hand. You’ve been pretty close to him ever since haven’t you love?”

“Yeah, I think it helps that I understand his disability… Plus you know, I promised to stick around as long as you all want and I think that reassured him a bit.” The boys had smiled at Arya’s response - both knowing from before that the wolf shared the same disability as the young dragon. 

“Yeah, I think I understand why they like this one. She does right by you, and you deserve that.”

Dany smiled easily at Loras’ words, curling closer into Arya’s side as she did so. The young wolf placing a kiss against her forehead as she thanked the man for the compliment.

“How did you two meet by the way?” Arya asked curiously after a few beats.

“Well ain’t that a story.” Loras nudged Renly who laughed and made to explain.

“We were both acting in the same short film for the Hollywood film festival - our characters were supposed to be both vying for the affection of the lead lady, and the on screen enemies turned into off screen lovers. An irony that the lead lady loved to remind us of regularly - Yara Greyjoy, we’re still good friends, she’s also gay so the whole movie was hilarious to try and film.”

The four had shared a laugh at the thought - sure they were actors and it was all professional but if all the leads weren’t into the gender of their on screen partners it made acting the scenes quite funny. Apparently there were often times where they’d mess around on set - Loras having run in on one of the filimings of Yara and Renly’s kiss scene shouting ‘he’s gay!’ as he threw glitter over them and pulled Renly away to kiss him himself. The Greyjoy even joining in on the scene to fake shock and pretend to faint at the thought - that tape was still somewhere in the director’s archives, but they’d never released the copy so unfortunately they couldn’t show them that tape. 

Dany going on to say they’d she’d have to try something like that at one of the Stark’s shows or the shoots for one of their music videos. Arya chuckled at the thought, not doubting that the dragon would do as she said, but not particularly minding if she did… though her siblings would definitely release that footage if they got hold of it.

The rest of the evening had continued in similar fashion, the four sharing ridiculous stories - of themselves or each other: Arya mentioning that time Dany had seen a spider and the fearsome dragon had squealed until Arya got rid of it, Dany telling them about the time Rhae had swapped the sugar for salt as a prank (which Arya had proceeded to put in her morning coffee and spit back out),   
Loras then talking about the time his sister had all but cornered Renly to ask him the world’s most embarrassing questions until the Baratheon had been left stumbling over his words and running to find his boyfriend again (Renly wasn’t so pleased about that story being told), he got his revenge when he told them about their visit to last year’s LA Pride (where Loras had been on the lead float to make the opening speech and declared his love for the Baratheon, directly before he slipped on a feather boa and ended up on his ass and covered in glitter and feathers for the rest of the day - which Loras had complained had took him over a week to get rid of).

The night had been fun though, the girls didn’t really have many people they could do this with, so it made a nice change to get out together and get to be with friends too.

By the end of the night, they’d all agreed that they’d attend the next LA Pride event together, and Dany suggested that they could bring the younger dragons with them too. It would be nice to involve them in some of the happy events that they got to celebrate as well, plus they imagined Vis would be rather excited with all the colours and glitter that the parade always featured.

“Thank you for tonight guys, it was really great.” Dany had said as they all walked out to their cars again.

“Oh please Dany, it was our pleasure. It’s nice to have other people to go out with.” Loras replied with ease, Renly nodding his agreement as they all made to hug goodbye.

“Alright, we’ll see you soon yeah?” Renly said, pointing a threatening finger at the two girls.

“Of course. See you later Ren, Loras.” Arya threw them both a wink as she opened the car door to offer Dany a hand in before making her way back to the driver’s seat. 

The two women waving at the boys as they passed them walking down the street.


	19. Wolf Pack 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Starks get their first major gig so it's time to start impressing the music critics as well as the public.  
> If nothing else though, they know they'll have three dragons to dramatically sing and dance to their songs all night.  
> But Dany doubted it would be a problem, the siblings were very good (even if she was slightly biased in her professional opinion).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's get a sing-along going and get some dancing done!  
> Brightening your week with a Stark set at an LA club - you bet it's stuff you can dance to.  
> Hope you enjoy it!  
> Like, comment, and let me know what you think.
> 
> (Sorry about the longer waits between chapters I have A-Levels starting in a few weeks so I'm knees deep in revision)

“Kids, you’ve got half an hour. How are you getting along?” Ned’s voice rang clear through the wooden door to the Stark’s dressing room. The siblings had a gig tonight, it was the biggest they’d performed at yet and they were still in the process of getting ready at the moment. 

Hair and makeup and all that was a foreign concept to all of them but hey they could get used to not having to do that themselves - but that kind of thing was highly dependent on how this night went.

Arya had just shrugged a checkered shirt onto her shoulders when her girlfriend and the little dragons had been let into the room. The woman covering the younger pair’s eyes as she saw Robb stood off to one side lacking in a shirt.

“Dude come on, please put something on. I don’t want to see that.”

“Just ‘cause I’m not Arya.” The man muttered under his breath in response, earning him a glare as he pulled a t-shirt on.

“Hey babe, you okay?” The younger wolf interrupted, moving to greet the trio.

“We’re fine, you look great by the way… How are you guys doing? Nervous?”

The dragon was met with a lot of nodding at the last question, but she just made to wave it off - letting them know that they’d do amazing. Electing not to tell them that her father was already here in the audience too.

“Thanks, and yes we are… It’ll be fun though, plus I got trouble one and two here so at least someone’ll be singing along. Won’t you? Please…”

The two younger dragons had nodded enthusiastically. They’d been doing exactly that for weeks now anyway, what with Arya practising around the house and using Rhae as her pianist too (it was easily the sweetest thing Dany had seen). 

“Of course mama, we know ‘em as well as you anyways.” Arya chuckled slightly at Rhae’s comment. 

“You know, you’re probably right buddy.”

The trio were told to leave not too long after so they could all get ready to perform though. Dany making to give Arya a quick kiss before being led back into the audience.

“Good luck my love.” She said with a wink, joining her parents not long later. The two little dragons getting rather excited as the minutes ticked on. 

The place was pretty full as well, Dany imagined that was thanks to Ned and Catelyn’s promoting skills. In fact it was getting so full that the blonde had to make sure her children were safely positioned at the front so they could both see Arya when the group got onto the stage.

“Ladies and gentlemen… your attention please…” A voice echoed through the speakers, all TV voice over style. The audience falling silent at the words, Dany noting her daughter bouncing slightly in front of her in excitement. “Can I hear you howl for the Wolf Pack?”

To Dany’s surprise a large portion of the audience did, herself and her parents laughing when the little dragons joined in too. A few moments later, Catelyn and Ned had found their way to stand on the other side of Dany to watch their children as they walked out onto the stage. They all looked the part at the very least and Dany saw Arya nervously rub her neck - and the tattoo of a howling wolf that lay there, all the other siblings having the same one too.

Arya had stepped up to the microphone, clearing her throat as she made to speak.

“Good evening LA! I hope you’ve all got your dancing shoes on! We’ll start slow for you though okay?”

There were cheers and whistles echoing through the crowd as the wolf finished speaking. She laughed slightly at the response before turning to nod to her brother who started up the beat - Dany recognising the song immediately. She loved this song. It was one of her favourites. It suited Arya’s voice well and the rest of the siblings always played it to perfection.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQYzoE4bVlQ - I Wanna Be Yours by Arctic Monkeys)

The whole crowd got into the song too. Even though it was a slower song, they were all swaying or slow dancing with each other - her children doing the same around her. 

The siblings all looked considerably more relaxed when the song ended and the crowd were cheering even louder than before. Arya passing a rather huge grin in Dany’s direction, making to blow her a kiss - the dragon making a big deal out of catching it, the siblings laughing at her and some of the crowd cheering at the action. Dany hearing Vis and Rhae make loud ‘ew’ noises next to her too.

The moment was interrupted shortly though as Sansa and Bran started playing the bassline for the next song - one that was far more dance friendly and if Dany thought the audience had loved the first song then she had greatly underestimated how much more enthusiastic they could get.

A good portion of the audience even managed to join in with the chorus of this song, which gave it an overwhelmingly good effect as all the voices echoed through the large LA club. Even the wolves on stage got dancing on stage with this song and it was amazing to see, though Arya wasn’t doing anything that would require her moving off the spot much because her leg wouldn’t have allowed her to very easily.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9wBXC3aZ_I - Follow Your Fire by Kodaline)

The group had a few more songs in their set before the next act was supposed to come on and they figured after the response they just got to that song that they’d keep up with the songs with more of a bass drop so people could keep dancing - though that didn’t mean they couldn’t use some of their songs that gave out a message that was important to one of the siblings.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=av5Gf8c8jVU - Honest by Kodaline) 

The song had a message that was very clear and Dany thought she remembered Arya saying that her sister had written it after her first relationship with one of the Lannisters had broken down rather badly. A fact that really only made the song considerably more impressive - but without that it was a great song. The audience happily dancing to the heavy bass in the song.

The rest of the set went down amazingly too - they were given a 7 song set and Dany wished whoever who had to follow them luck because they were amazing… and that wasn’t even her being biased.

(The rest of the songs:  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJN-rzytlYI - Ho Hey by The Lumineers  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biStYEbnyBM - Thief by Ansel Elgort  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdpWFhqQNNs - Walking The Wire by Imagine Dragons  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wtfhZwyrcc - Believer by Imagine Dragons)

Dany had practically had to sprint backstage after the little dragons who had excitedly run for the wolf.

Arya had managed to crouch in time to wrap the two in a hug, her siblings all joining in too which probably wasn’t helpful. The group ending up in some sprawled mess on the floor, it then took several attempts for them all to get back up again though.

Dany had laughed as she helped Arya back to her feet and managed to get a hug in too.

“Well done baby, you were amazing! I’m so proud.”

“Thanks, still shaking though.” Dany grinned as she pulled back slightly.

“Adrenaline babe, you were amazing though. Must’ve been, the little dragon’s dance squad danced the whole way through at least.”

“I know! I saw! You two were showing me up with them skills!”

The two younger dragons had laughed and Vis kept dancing around the two women singing some of the songs.

“I love you weirdos.” Arya had muttered as she watched the two move. Turning back to Dany to kiss the woman’s cheek. “And I love you too.”

“You best…”

“Always.”


End file.
